Scammer Impersonates Cop, Steals $14K

0:00It's April 20th. This is Hartford News Today, AI-powered stories from your city. I'm Cory with the story. Sauvington Police just dropped a warning about a slick phone scam that hit one of their residents hard. Scammers pretending to be Hartford cops called a woman, claiming she missed a court date on a fake federal warrant and had to pay up fast. She ended up sending $14,000 through Bitcoin. The caller told her to fake an emergency at work, rush home, and pull the cash from her bank right away. When they directed her to drive all the way to a gas station in Springfield, Massachusetts to load it into a Bitcoin machine, folks are shaken by how real it sounded and the victim lost big time before realizing the play. Police put out the alert to wake everyone up, stressing this, prays on fear of the law. No real cops ever demand money over the phone to clear a warrant. That scammer talk straight up. They're pushing people to hang up on urgent legal calls and check directly with the actual department. Stay sharp out there, verify everything, and don't let panic make you a target.

1:03These tricks are everywhere, but knowledge keeps your wallet safe.