Southold police warn of spoofed calls using department’s number
Someone is making late-night calls that look like they’re coming from the Southold Town Police Department — but they’re not from the police.
The department’s main number, 631-765-2600, was used by an outside party to make spoofed calls to residents on Feb. 24 and 25, Southold Town Police Chief Steven Grattan told The Suffolk Times on Thursday, Feb. 26.
The calls came in between 4 p.m. and midnight both evenings, though no one answered and no voicemails were left.
About six residents have since called the department to ask whether police had tried to reach them, Chief Grattan said.
“To my knowledge, nobody has spoken to whoever is spoofing our number,” he said. “Some of the carriers have listed it as spam.”
The department looked into the incident but has limited options.
“Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be much we can do to prevent that from occurring,” Chief Grattan said.
The incident is the latest in a series of cyber threats hitting North Fork institutions. Southold Town spent more than two weeks recovering from a ransomware attack that struck the day before Thanksgiving, and North Ferry Company was hit by a separate ransomware attack this month that froze its online payment system.
“At this time there is no reason to suspect that these calls are connected with the cyber attacks,” Chief Grattan noted.
Caller ID spoofing allows someone to disguise the origin of a call so it appears to come from a legitimate number — in this case, the department’s main line. The department’s own phone systems were not compromised and emergency services have not been interrupted, Chief Grattan said.
He reminded residents that a real call from the police department will have a live dispatcher who identifies themselves with their agency and shield number. It will not be a recording, ask callers to press numbers for a language option or request financial or personal information.
“If anybody suspects that it may be a spam call, I would encourage them to hang up immediately and call back 631-765-2600,” Chief Grattan said. “Our dispatchers will answer and let them know whether or not they called.”
