Police warn of new scam

COEUR d'ALENE - A Coeur d'Alene couple was conned out of nearly $500 when they were threatened with arrest over an alleged overdue loan payment.

According to a police report, a woman received a call last week from a man who said her husband was in default on a loan.

The caller said if they did not receive the balance immediately, both the husband and wife would have warrants issued for their arrests.

The caller "listed off a litany of crimes with which they would be charged. She said the caller had quite a lot of information and seemed legitimate. He was very threatening in his manner," the police report said.

He said the woman needed to call and arrange payment, which she did, giving her credit card information and authorization to charge $445.

She told police, "she only gave this permission after being intimidated into believing she and her husband were at risk of being arrested."

The $445 was charged to her credit card. She later contacted the loan company, and her husband was not behind on payments and their account had never been referred for collection.

"He explained this was a scam and that they believe there has been a data breech of their customer records," the report said.

The victim filed a fraud report with her credit card company.