Rochester man scammed out of $9K by fraudster pretending to be Rochester police

Mark Wasson, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·1 min read

Jun. 17—ROCHESTER — A Rochester man has been swindled out of $9,000 dollars after a fraudster claiming to be a member of the Rochester Police Department told him he had unpaid fines to pay, according to Rochester Police Capt. Casey Moilanen.

According to Moilanen, the 56-year-old man, received a call June 6, 2022, from a man claiming to be from the Rochester Police Department. The man told him he had unpaid fines he needed to take care of and had the victim's name, address and place of employment.

After questioning the validity of the call, the Rochester man checked the number that called him, which was associated with the Rochester Police Department.

The Rochester man then sent $9,000 dollars in MoneyPak cards to the caller.

Moilanen said that scammers are able to spoof numbers, and the department did not call the man.

"We will never contact people in the community about unpaid fines and ask them to pay with MoneyPak cards, gift cards or anything like that," Moilanen said.