Police in Sheridan say they have come across a new scam that more advanced than others
"This individual advised he received a call from a Wyoming number," said Sheridan Police Chief Travis Koltiska. "An individual purported to be a paramedic who was working an accident with the male's younger sister and infant."
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Koltiska says based on what the caller was saying about the supposed accident, the target of the scam was concerned and followed the scammer's instructions.
The scammer began changing the story, saying the crash was actually interrupting a drug deal.
"The guy who purported to be a paramedic asked him to respond to Walmart. While en route to Walmart, the story started changing, and some questions started being asked. And at one point, he hung up the phone and called his sister and learned his sister was not in danger in any way and was not in an accident," said Koltiska.
With the scam thwarted, the would-be victim reported it to police, and it became clear the scammer did extensive legwork using scanner traffic from first responders and social media to find a target.
Koltiska said he believes a ransom would have been the next step.
"Hours before that, the police department did investigate a crash with a young lady and an infant child. And so, there was a connection made from the crash. It was not the same people involved. So, there was some connection made and the scam was attempting to use a legitimate situation that occurred in Sheridan," Koltiska said.
Koltiska says many departments have begun encrypting scanner traffic to avoid personal information being shared on social media or being used by bad actors.
"A lot of agencies are going to encrypted information and encrypted radio channels which have no access to the community or to the public for that reason, to protect people's confidentiality and protect the individual's identities in these sort of situations and just to prevent information that could be used nefariously from getting out there," said Koltiska.
