A senior citizen reported a scammer claiming to be Palos Park Police Chief Joe Miller called her house asking for money.
At the Aug. 24 village council meeting, Police Commissioner Dan Polk relayed a story about the woman’s call where somebody saying he was Miller demanded money and threatened to arrest her if she didn’t pay.
“She thought she was receiving a call from the Palos Park PD Chief Miller, so it’s easy for spammers to spoof things,” Polk said. “They can spoof the telephone number. They can put whatever it is they want to in the telephone number.
“The senior citizen was involved in what was thought to be suspected money laundering and was told over the phone that she would have to pay a fine or she was going to be arrested.”
Polk warned other citizens of the village that the police will not make phone calls of this nature.
“If you’ve done something against the law, we ain’t gonna call you,” Polk said. “There will be one of us at the door. Knock, knock, knock, knock. We don’t ask people to send us money over the phone. We don’t ask people to send us money, period.”
Polk said not to engage in conversation with the scammers.
“If it sounds a little funky, hang up the phone and give us a call,” Polk said. “You can text Chief Miller 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are getting an unexpected call or text or e-mail about unpaid citations or warrants, I would check that first because that’s not the way we do business in Palos Park.”
Miller warned about other calls made threatening citizens about not paying bail and they should be ignored.
“Just a simple rule of thumb – the state of Illinois two years ago eliminated cash bail,” Miller said. “So, no one arrested posts any type of cash bail in the state of Illinois unless it’s something more serious and that would go through the criminal courts.
“Cash bail in Illinois is gone forever.”
Sewer rate change
There are 29 residents in the village who receive sewer services but not water services and have been paying a flat monthly rate over the years.
The council voted to amend and adjust that rate.
Thus, the cost will be $37.50 per month for infrastructure and maintenance fee from July 1 through April 30, 2027.
It will go up to $44.70 from May 1, 2027 to April 30, 2028. It will be $50.94 from May 1, 2028 through April 30, 2029, $58.43 from May 1, 2029 through April 30, 2039 and $67.41 from May 1, 2030 to April 30, 2031.
