KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho --- The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office is warning people about a new scam targeting Idaho phone numbers.
KCSO said the scam claims to raise money for injured and disabled police officers.
“With all the officers killed and injured recently, it didn’t take these scammers long to pop up,” wrote KCSO on Facebook.
According to officials, the scammers call from phone number 208-488-6565.
“The prefix 488 is not an Idaho prefix and they’re using a spoofed number,” explained KCSO in a Facebook post. “If you try to call them back using a blocked number, you will get a message that their phone number is not in service.”
Community Service Officer Gary Shults said the Sheriff's Office has not received any formal reports of anyone being duped yet. Since the post on Facebook, it appeared the scam has made the rounds in North Idaho.
"Within half an hour, I had people writing in to me saying that they had received the telephone calls. Same stories," said Shults.
Shults said the saddest factor of all is the fact that some people are trying to capitalize on the recent killings of officers across the country.
"What I also know what it does is takes away from the legitimate companies and businesses trying to collect money for these people," said Shults.
Earlier this month, USA TODAY reported 2016 has been the deadliest year for law enforcement slain in the line of duty in the last 100 years. More than 60 line-of-duty deaths have occurred in the USA this year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
The Sheriff's Office said if you receive the call and hang up, you are still encouraged to report it.