Red Light Camera Scam

Police in Northern Virginia are warning residents of a scam involving red light cameras, the automated traffic monitoring devices now in use at busy intersections in a number of Virginia cities.  Several residents of Vienna have reported receiving phone calls and being threatened with arrest if they didn't pay a fine for red light camera infraction right then.  The would-be victims are then told they can take care of the fine if they would just provide the caller with a credit card number.

Authorities are calling it an identity theft scam.  In Virginia, red-light violators are notified of the infraction by mail, not over the phone.

The scam has not shown up in Hampton Roads...yet.  The Daily Press reports that police in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and Newport News, the three Hampton Roads cities with red light cameras, have not had a complaint about the scam.

In the Daily Press report, Virginia Beach police officer Brian Walters offered this advice to help reduce the risk of being scammed over the phone.

• Ask the caller for a copy of the citation, but don't give out your home address.
• Don't give out personal information, like credit card or social security numbers, unless you initiated the call.  This applies to any over-the-phone transaction.
• Record the time and date of the call.

 Links:
Daily Press report on the scam.
Yahoo News report