BEVERLY HILLS—The Beverly Hills Police Department issued an advisory warning residents of a phone scam in which the caller identifies himself as a city official and asks to inspect the victim’s home for earthquake damage.
The scam was brought to police attention when a Beverly Hills resident received a call from a man alleging to be a member of the ‘City of Beverly Hills Commission Group.’ No such organization exists.
The caller said he needed to inspect the home for earthquake damage.
“Believing this was suspicious, being that there have been no recent earthquakes, the resident asked … for his phone number in order to verify that he was calling from the city,” according to the police statement. But the caller declined, saying he had “thousands of people” to call and that there was no call-back number he could provide.
Beverly Hills Police Sergeant Kurt Haefs told Canyon News, “There may have been other calls made that were not reported to police. And, so far we are unaware of any suspects entering victims’ homes.”
“Calls claiming to be from the city of Beverly Hills should be verified,” said the BHPD. “Do not provide personal information, no matter how pushy and aggressive the caller may be.”
Beverly Hills Police are asking residents who receive similar calls to contact them at (310) 550-4951.
