CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department is advising the community to be on the lookout for a new telephone scam hitting our area.

Police said this particular telephone scheme works as follows.

A male suspect with a foreign (possibly East Indian or Middle Eastern) accent called a Clearlake woman’s cellular phone. The caller’s identification number – or caller ID – came back to 646-740-0330.

He claimed his name was Kevin Peterson with badge number No. 10026, and that he was head of the U.S. Treasury Department.

He told the intended victim that she owed a specific amount of money to the U.S. Treasury Department. He also claimed that a warrant of arrest had already been issued for her.

The caller instructed the woman to send a “Money Gram” for the amount owed while he remained on the phone with her.

He was specific in his instructions to not hang up with him during the process or the local police would immediately arrest her.

In this particular incident, the woman became suspicious and contacted the Clearlake Police Department prior to sending any money and learned that this was a telephone scam.

Residents should be wary of telephone calls such as this where money is requested. Telephone scams come in many forms and often involve a caller whom the intended victim does not know, and sometimes even portraying a long lost family member.

The caller normally demands money under threat, or personal information in order to commit identity theft.

Please contact your local law enforcement agency if you have any questions or if you suspect that you may have received a telephone scam call.