COUNTYWIDE : CHP Warns of Calls to Solicit Money

The California Highway Patrol warns county residents of a statewide scam in which a person posing as a CHP official solicits money over the telephone.

The impostor tells people to send money, saying a boss or co-worker was involved in a traffic accident and needs cash immediately, CHP officials said.

The CHP has received reports of this scam about every other day since the beginning of the year, and officials said the latest incident occurred in Fountain Valley on Monday.

A man identifying himself as CHP Officer Paul Westberry called an employee of a Fountain Valley business, saying her boss was involved in a minor traffic accident in the San Diego area and was being taken to a local hospital, said Lyle Whitten, a CHP spokesman in Westminster.

The impostor said her boss needed $450 for repairs to his car and for hospital expenses, Whitten said. The woman sent the money from a Western Union office in Fountain Valley without first checking at work for her boss or with the CHP, Whitten said.

Whitten said there is no Officer Paul Westberry with the CHP and the woman’s boss had not left the office all day.

“Most of the people will at least call and find out if this is for real or call the Highway Patrol and find out if we solicit funds, which we do not do. They don’t check. They just think their loved ones or friends need money.”

CHP Sgt. Bill Sharff, who is investigating the scam from Sacramento, said the callers may have obtained the names of company officials from directories that list a company’s officers. The callers rarely use the same name twice.

Anyone getting such a call is asked to contact the CHP.