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Robo and fraud calls are so commonplace that most people just hang up and ignore them but recently, some of the calls in the Collinsville area have begun to get more detailed and more personal in their approach which is negatively impacting the city's image. So the City and the Police department took to social media to straighten out the misunderstandings.

Chief of Police Matthew Burke said the issue is the the fraudulent calls are displaying the actual police dispatch and city desk main numbers, causing people to think the call is legitimate because it is a number they recognize. Burke said the callers are very sophisticated in their approach to the person who answers and very convincing so some people are falling for the scam out of fear. But Burke says that the red flag is that the callers are asking for gift cards or demanding instant payments by phone using bank accounts. The City and law enforcement will never demand a payment instantly by phone.

Chief Burke says the best thing to do if you receive one of these calls is to hang up and do not engage with the caller because you could inadvertently give them information they could use against you to steal your identity. He also says that although law enforcement is limited in what they can do to stop the calls, it is best to record when the call occurs and report it to the police by email or letter so they can keep track of the incidences. By having this information, they can help the FBI and other national agencies attempt to trace people or establish patterns of behavior that wil lead to finding the fraudsters.

Chief Burke also says that although Collinsville is going through this uptick in calls lately, they are not the only city that has been hit by the fraud and they won't be the last city to experience it. Any person living anywhere could become a target so avoid giving out information or any form of payment to a caller unless you know the person or have verified the caller is legitimate by calling the organization they are representing.