Crime & Courts

Calls promising money from Alaska State Troopers are a scam

Alaska State Troopers are warning people not to be taken in by a phone scam in which the callers are promising prize money delivered by troopers -- once they receive some cash.

Troopers said in a dispatch that they were informed of the scam on Monday by a North Pole resident, who said someone with a foreign accent had called to tell her she had won "a large sum of money and a Mercedes."

"The caller advised that she had to send $200 to claim her prizes," troopers wrote. "Additionally, the scammer stated that two state troopers would help deliver the prize money to her. AST is not working with anybody to deliver large sums of money."

In November, Anchorage police received reports of a separate scam in which callers posed as Alaska State Troopers in an attempt to extort fraudulent "fines" from people.

Troopers ask people to be vigilant against similar scams and report them to law enforcement.

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