Posted Tuesday, February 19, 2013 --- 12:06 p.m.

Incident Report from the Madison Police Department:

Incident Type: Fraud

Incident Date: 02/18/2013 - 7:00 PM

Address: City County Building (MPD Self Report Unit)

Details: A Hispanic man contacted the MPD's Self Report Unit Monday to report a scam that appears to target our Spanish speaking community. He had received a phone call from someone claiming to work for a local utility company. The caller, who spoke in Spanish, said the man’s family would lose their electricity if they did not purchase a $300 Green Dot reloadable, prepaid, credit card.

The victim was told to transfer the funds to the utility company by calling 1-800-652-5503. A quick on-line search of the number reveals others have likely been targeted by the same criminals: http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-652-5503. The Hispanic man contacting the MPD said the con man was convincing as he knew the names, phone numbers, and addresses of his (the victim’s) family members.