Residents receive unsolicited asks for money. What to do next.

Longmont residents are sending in donations to the Longmont Police Department that were never asked for.

Recently, Robin Ericson, marketing and communications manager of the Longmont Police Department, received a donation that included a mailed flyer. The flyer was from a group called Citizens Behind the Badge and asked the person receiving the flyer to “Pledge the Support of Longmont Area Police Officers” by asking for a $100 donation. 

Some residents have called to report the flyers, while others have sent a donation directly to the Longmont Police Department. 

While the Longmont Police Department may ask for item donations for specific drives, it will never ask the community for monetary donations, Ericson said.

This isn’t a new thing for the city of Longmont or even local nonprofits. There are organizations that use slight changes in language that leads to confusion among those receiving the solicitation. 

Longmont Power and Communications receives similar complaints from residents. The local utility company sees several types of scams, however it identified two as being the most common, false disconnection threats and bogus bills.

False disconnection threats usually involve a caller, who claims to be from the utility company, threatening to disconnect the resident’s service unless the bill is paid immediately. The caller usually asks for a prepaid debit card as a form of payment. These threats have also been known to be made through email or even with a person going door-to-door, Scott Rochat, public relations and marketing specialist from LPC said in an email. 

Bogus bills are similar to false disconnection treats. Residents usually receive an email that claims to be an unpaid utility bill and can sometimes include the utility’s logo, Rochat said. 

In all of these cases, no money goes to the entity the recipient believes they are giving it to. In the example with the police department, Ericson said Citizens Behind the Badge has not contacted the Longmont Police about a fundraiser and “no direct funding or assistance” from the organization will go toward the Longmont Police Department.

Citizens Behind the Badge is a 501(c)(4) organization based in McLean, Virginia that is dedicated to becoming a “leading voice of the American people in support of the men and women in law enforcement,” according to its website. 

While this organization may be working for a cause, the same can’t be said for all solicitations residents receive. In 2022, 2.4 million people made a fraud report to the Federal Trade Commission. The most commonly reported scam was an imposter scam, which is when a person calls or sends an email trying to get the consumer to pay them via a gift card or to wire money. Consumers reported losing $2.6 billion dollars in 2022 to imposter scams which was up from $2.4 billion in 2021, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Although scams and other solicitations are up, there are ways people can protect themselves, Ericson and Rochat said.

• Know your local utility and organizations. Longmont Power and Communications and the Longmont Police Department will never demand immediate payment over the phone or ask for monetary donations.
• If you didn’t originate the call, never give out personal information over the phone.
• If you think a caller might be legitimate – such as a crew coming over to do a repair – look up the phone number and call the vendor yourself to confirm.
• Don’t trust the number you see on Caller ID. Spammers can and will “spoof” real numbers to disguise where they’re calling from.
• If someone comes to the door unannounced, ask for a City-issued ID and call to confirm. (The phone numbers are below)
• You will only be getting an email bill if you signed up for one (like most NextLight customers, for instance). NEVER click on a link or open an attachment in an email unless you’ve verified the sender; it’s an easy way to insert malicious software or redirect you to a phony site to steal your personal information.
• If you’re not sure whether a communication came from LPC or LPD, call LPC at 303-651-8386, NextLight at 303-774-4494, Utility Billing at 303-651-8664 or LPD 3030-651-8555.

These simple rules can apply to any organization that may reach out for a solicitation.