Scammers posing as Austin police detectives are spoofing the city's 3-1-1 number. How to check a call, and the new 3-1-1 hours

The Austin Police Department is warning residents about phone calls from people pretending to be detectives. According to KVUE and KXAN, the callers tell people they are under investigation for child sexual abuse material or human trafficking, and their caller ID shows 512-974-2000.

The Austin Chronicle included the warning in its weekly roundup.

What police say

According to KXAN, APD said "a phone number displayed on caller ID is not proof of identity." The department says it will not ask residents to send money, provide credit card information, or grant remote access to a computer or phone as part of an investigation, KVUE and KXAN reported.

APD's advice, as reported:

1. Ask the caller for the detective's name, badge number and case number.
2. Hang up and verify the call independently through Austin 3-1-1 or official APD contact information, not the number on caller ID.
3. Do not share personal or financial information until the caller's identity is confirmed.

In past scam alerts, APD has told victims to make a non-emergency report through 3-1-1. Call 911 in an emergency.

What our records add

The number on the screen belongs to 3-1-1. The number the scammers display, 512-974-2000, is the ten-digit number for Austin 3-1-1, according to the city's 3-1-1 page. That is also the line APD tells people to use to check a call. In other words, residents should dial 3-1-1 themselves rather than call back a number that appeared on their screen.

3-1-1 phone hours change Nov. 1. Starting Sunday, Nov. 1, 3-1-1 phone agents will answer calls only from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, under a one-year budget pilot. Our story on the change has the details. Online and app requests still work around the clock, but a resident who gets one of these calls late at night will not be able to reach a 3-1-1 agent until morning.

What the council was told. During a July 28 budget meeting, Council Member José Velásquez asked how the 3-1-1 reduction would affect residents. Austin Energy General Manager Stuart Reilly, whose utility runs 3-1-1, said the line gets very few calls after 9 p.m. and that many late calls are emergencies that must go to 911. He said the city could pull back if the rollout went badly. The council adopted the budget with the pilot on Aug. 12.

Earlier warnings. APD has issued similar warnings before about callers using police numbers to demand money, as FOX 7 reported in a past alert. This round differs in what the callers claim: an investigation into a serious crime.

What's next

The 3-1-1 pilot runs for a year, and its results are expected to feed into next year's budget, which the council begins reviewing next summer.