SCAM WARNING

The Minneota Police Department has received reports of people getting phone calls from phone numbers with a caller ID from Minneota.

The first three digits of the phone number is “872”. The callers claim to be with the “Minneota Fire Department”, “Minneota Law Enforcement” or simply representing, “Fire and EMS organizations.”

There are also callers linking themselves to the Veterans organizations and they are using Minneota telephone numbers. They are NOT linked to any area Veteran's organization.

The caller then attempts to solcit donations on behalf of the organization or gain information about someone.

THIS IS A SCAM that is using a spoofing technique to trick people. Thieves has realized that people screen their calls and ignore numbers they don’t recognize.

To overcome this, thieves are using spoofing to make your caller ID display a false name or number in hopes of convincing you that it’s a local number, or from someone you know or a credible organization.

Don’t fall victim by blindly trusting your caller ID. The Minneota Fire, EMS and Police Departments is not soliciting funds over the phone.

Never give out personal information over the phone. Screen all of your calls and check any suspicious number.

Hang up immediately if you suspect the call is a scam.

By following these tips, you can avoid becoming a victim.

For questions, call Chief Bill Bolt at 507-360-7864.