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Scammer threatens to deport Prospect Hts. man

Prospect Heights police report a scam with a different twist: the caller threatens to have the victim deported.

According to police reports, a male resident purchased an English tutorial through a TV advertisement. Even though he had paid in full, he received a scam phone call last week from a man demanding a supposed balance of $880.

The scammer told the man, in Spanish, that if he did not send the money his house would be embargoed and he would be deported for lack of payment. The victim then contacted police.

An officer phoned the offender, who was hostile, but told him a police officer would call him back. When another man called, he threatened the Prospect Heights officer, yet again speaking Spanish, demanding his badge number, telling him he was interfering with a deportation case and that he would be sued.

When the officer asked to speak to the caller’s supervisor, the offender hung up.

“This was a scam specific to Hispanic communities,” said Cpl. Mike Stone of the Prospect Heights Police Department. The phone number originated in California.

The Prospect Heights Police will not investigate further in this case, said Stone.

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