‘Everything seemed real’: Great Bend woman shares spoof scam call scare

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (KSNW) – Be alert. A spoofing scam is making its rounds. That’s where scammers display fake numbers posing as government agencies.

Similar to many people, Chelsea Morris was confident she could spot a scam call. However, Wednesday, she got one that she said felt so realistic that she nearly fell for it.

“It just felt it was really scary,” the Great Bend woman said. “It was a gentleman who identified himself as a Seargent for the Leavenworth Police Department.”

He told her she failed to show up to court this week to be a witness after being subpoenaed back in January. Morris said the call had a local area code and that he sounded convincing.

“He never asked for personal information. He even gave me my own address. As if, like, that’s where we came to subpoena you, and we served to you,” she said. “Just everything seemed real. He didn’t ask for personal information. He had it already.”

Morris’ husband is the Barton County Attorney. She asked the caller if they could wait for him to be present.

“(The caller) was starting this conversation that right now nothing had been filed, but if we waited, I could potentially be booked into jail and processed, and all I could think about what was one, my son,” she said.

The call went on for 18 minutes. Morris texted her husband to come help. When he arrived, they pressed the caller for a case number, he eventually hung up.

The Leavenworth Police Department says Morris isn’t the only person to be targeted.

“Those are not legit calls,” said Dan Nicodemus, Deputy Police Chief Leavenworth Police Department.

Additionally, if you get a call from someone saying it’s them – it’s likely not.

“We’re not going to call you over the phone and ask for any information like that. We’re not going to call you and ask for any money or demand payment of any bond or ticket,” Nicodemus said.

Morris hopes her scare can help others be more aware.

If you get a call from someone posing as a law enforcement agency, Nicodemus says you should hang up and call that department directly to report it.

You can find other tips to avoid spoof scams by clicking here.