Telephone Fraud – Jail Scam

Inmates housed in the Cook County jail are known to commit many telephone scams.  One frequently occurring scam involves inmates conning people into forwarding their incoming phone calls to a number provided by the inmate. 

Here’s how it works:

• The victim receives a call from an individual identify himself as an officer from a local police department or other governmental authority and tells the victim there was some type of emergency involving a family member. 

• The caller tells the victim to dial *72, followed by another telephone number provided by the scammer.  The unsuspecting victim does not realize *72 activates the call-forwarding feature.  The result is that another person at the forwarded number can accept collect calls from the inmate at the victim’s expense.

  
  

How can you protect yourself?

• Incoming calls originating from the Cook County jail will show “Prison” on the Caller ID of phones equipped with this service.  Be cautious when answering these calls or don’t answer the call.

• Anyone receiving a call originating from the Cook County jail will hear a recorded message stating the call is coming from the Cook County jail.  If you hear that message, hang up if you do not want to receive the call.

• To eliminate receiving additional calls; contact the Cook County Jail’s Internal Affairs Division (773-869-6838) and ask them to put a block on your telephone number.

• Only utilize the *72 feature when you want your calls forwarded to another number.

•  Educate your family about consumer fraud.  Visit the Illinois Attorney General’s website for additional information: http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/ 

Residents with any additional questions can call the Kenilworth Police Department’s non-emergency number (847-251-2141) and we would be happy to assist you