By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Lead Reporter - Salina Post
Salina Police Department (SPD) officers began investigating a scam after a 65-year-old Salina resident reported multiple calls from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) throughout the weekend.
On Monday, April 29, a Salina resident called SPD officers after receiving multiple calls from alleged scammers veiled as several government organizations.
The calls began on Friday, April 26, after attempting to reach a customer service desk for online shopping.
"She was trying to reach Amazon customer service, so she called the number she found online. It turns out that that was a scammer she called," SPD Sgt. Kyle Tonniges said. "In the call, they transferred her to who they claimed was the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC told her that she was under investigation and had to withdraw $50,000 from her account."
Tonniges said she then visited her bank to withdraw the $50,000 from her account, and a bank employee informed her that it seemed to be a scam, so she decided not to withdraw the cash.
Later that afternoon, scammers continued to call the 65-year-old victim by spoofing or impersonating the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) and other authority organizations.
"That person said she had a warrant because she wasn't cooperating with the FTC," Tonniges said. "She got a call the next day from somebody claiming to be the FTC. She got another call later that day from the FTC, then got a call from somebody claiming to be with the Kansas State University Police Department."
"The scammer was very persistent, although she was not out any money thanks to the bank."
After three days of persistent scam calls, the victim reported the scam activity to the police on Monday, which SPD officers continue investigating.
Salina Post will update the story as more information becomes available.
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