MCPD asking community to be aware of phone and email scams

Brian Wise

(ABC 6 News) – The Mason City Police Department is warning residents of scammers claiming to be police officers.

Police said over the past few days scammers have tried to contact residents and city employees both by email and over the phone.

The email messages have asked the recipient to "handle something discreetly" and are asking for a quick reply because the sender is "going into a meeting soon."

The email addresses have all been from public email providers so far and are asking residents to look closely at sender information that does not end in "@masoncity.net". That means it is not the City of Mason City domain name.

Police also say that the phone calls have claimed to be specific MCPD officers demanding money from the person that they are talking to, to avoid a subpoena from being issued.

In at least one case, the caller gave the MCPD phone number (641-421-3636) to the person to have them call back to verify communications.

Police are asking anyone who has been a victim of a scam to contact MCPD to file a complaint. They also say if you receive these emails delete them or hang up if the caller is asking for money.