Oregon police warn against fraudster posing as law enforcement

Police in Salem, Oregon, are warning residents about a possible fraud scam involving a person posing as an FBI agent. A Salem resident, Lucinda Martin, called the police station telling officials that she had been contacted by phone by a person claiming to be Lieutenant Steve Birr. She said that the person told her he was investigating a fraud involving Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes, which the phony agent said she had won. He told her that someone had filed a fake death certificate and had stolen the money owed to her. The impersonator later called her and told her that in order to collect the winnings she would need to send a "refundable security deposit of $3,000," which led Martin to contact the real police. After talking to the police, she was put in contact with the real Birr and was told that she had been the target of a scam. "As we have always warned people, if it appears to be too good to be true, it most likely is," Birr said in statement. The Kansas attorney general recently warned residents in his state about a scam that has plagued communities. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt warned residents that a group calling itself National Credit Solutions was posing as a debt collection agency in order to get money from people in debt.