Authorities stumped in attempt to trace scam phone calls

Sidney police received around a half dozen reports of an attempted phone scam from area businesses last week.

Both Shamrock and Conoco gas stations in Sidney answered calls from a person claiming to be with the city of Sidney. This person told those at the stations that they were late on electric payments. These businesses were told that power would be shut off if they didn't pay $2,700 to the caller.

When alerted by the businesses, Sidney police called this number. A person answered as Sidney Public Power District, an entity that doesn't exist. Trying the same number later, the person answering claimed to be with Papa John's pizza.

This caller was using a magic jack device bought at an electronics store, according to Sidney police chief B.J. Wilkinson. This device transmits an internet phone number that doesn't really exist. Unfortunately, Sidney police can't trace this kind of call.

"There's no way to back into it," Wilkinson said.

The caller claimed to be out of Grand Island and Omaha in various calls to different businesses in Sidney, but Wilkinson doesn't believe that the calls were generated locally.

"I don't think they were in either place," Wilkinson said.

Generally when dealing with questionable phone calls, Wilkinson advises that if anything sounds unusual, be cautious. If someone outside of your normal business contacts calls you, validate the person's identity before making any transactions with them, Wilkinson advised. If a person is legitimate, they will be willing to give out their name, a callback number and position.

"If they're legit, they'll let you do that," Wilkinson said.

Since most people in Sidney know that electricity is only available through the city, this scam was easy to spot. Scams aren't always so obvious, so Wilkinson advises caution.

"If anything seems unusual or too good to be true, it probably is," Wilkinson said.