CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A new scam is sweeping across Metro Detroit.
Callers are harassing people, demanding money and threatening to send police. The best thing to do is just hang up. However, many victims have been too scared to do that.
It all begins with a phone call and then the threat of police showing up at your door.
A rude, demanding voice takes the line, threatening to have police swoop in.
Melina Murphy received just that type of phone call.
"I was terrified. I didn't know what to do," she said. "I was about to cry. He seemed like he just wanted money now and he wasn't going to stop until he got it."
Murphy stepped back and realized she had done nothing wrong. She has no loans, no debt and no warrants. She works two jobs and has never been in trouble with the law.
The so-called police investigator refused to give up with Murphy. He had her personal information and said she owed a significant amount of money and only needed one thing to keep officers away.
"He tried to tell me if I did not pay today that he was going to send Clinton Township police to my house," Murphy said. "He said my address."
Murphy hung up the phone. She called the real police. They told her she is not alone. Other Metro Detroiters have been receiving similar threatening calls.
Murphy's message is this: Beware of the call.
The harassing calls are coming from 1-800 numbers and while the callers claim to be police investigators who have the authority to send police to your door, in reality they have no authority at all.
Police detectives advise anyone who receives a call such as the one Murphy did to call police immediately. They stress never to give out credit card information to a stranger over the phone.