Scammers pretending to work for Amazon, Tulsa police warn

TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa Police Department (TPD) said their Financial Crimes Unit has seen an increase in telephone scammers posing as “Apple or Amazon” employees.

TPD said the scammer will say your account has been hacked and they are the employee assigned to your case to help recover your account and get your money back.

>>>MORE: TFD search for person of interest with possible connection to setting an east Tulsa QuikTrip on fire.

The scammer will then provide you with a case number and their employee badge number, to make you think its legitimate.

In some cases, they will give you a telephone number to call back. When you call the number, the operator will even answer and say, “Apple tech support, how may I direct your call”.

TPD said this is all a setup to make you think its real.

They said the scammer will ask for your name, date of birth, address, password and credit card information to “verify” it’s the same as information that’s on file.

Once you have given out sensitive information, it is hard to reverse the damage.

TPD said in some cases the scammers posing as “Apple or Amazon Technicians” will ask you to download a program onto your phone or computer to better assist them in cleaning up your account.

>>>MORE: Customer finds drugs inside fast-food order, Skiatook police arrest employee.

They said you should never download an unknown software because it can give the scammer remote access to your device.

TPD said if a company requests “Immediate Action” or threatens you with warrants, arrest, or some other type of sanction if you don’t “immediately comply”, it’s most likely a scam. Another red flag to watch for is if you are asked to pay using gift cards.

TPD said if you have been the victim of a scam, you can complete an online police report by clicking here.