Police warn of phone scam targeting UC Santa Cruz parents

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Santa Cruz police are investigating a scam where a caller phones the parents of students at the University of California at Santa Cruz telling them they need to pay bail for warrants for their children's arrest, a police spokesman said.

The caller has tried to collect money to cover the bogus warrants and has programmed their phone to show the business line of the Santa Cruz Police Department as an incoming call on the parents' caller ID, according to Deputy Chief Steve Clark.

Clark said the calls to the UCSC students' parents are not coming from the Police Department and bail for arrest warrants are paid through the court clerk's office, not to police.

Police and the sheriff's office also do not make calls asking for payments for warrants, Clark said.

The department cautions the public against making payments or revealing personal information over the phone, he said.

Anyone who receives such a call should contact the department's dispatch center at (831) 471-1131 to file a report, or go to the department's website at www.santacruzpolice.com to file a report online, police said.

Victims of phone scams who feel they are being bullied or threatened by the caller should hang up and dial 911, according to police.