Sunapee Police Warn Residents About Citibank, NYPD Impersonation Scam

The Sunapee Police Department issued a community alert Monday warning that scammers are impersonating two of the most recognizable institutions in American finance and law enforcement, Citibank and the New York Police Department, to trick residents into handing over personal and financial information.

The advisory, posted April 7 to the town's official news feed on sunapeenh.gov, describes a scheme in which fraudsters send messages crafted to look like legitimate fraud notifications from Citibank or the NYPD. The messages typically use urgent language claiming an account has been compromised, then push the recipient toward clicking a link, calling a number embedded in the message, or providing account credentials directly.

The pairing of a major bank with a nationally recognized police agency is deliberate. Scammers count on the authority of both names to short-circuit skepticism and pressure recipients into acting before thinking. Sunapee police want residents to recognize that combination as a warning sign, not a reason to comply.

The department's guidance is specific. Do not click links or call phone numbers included in any unsolicited message, regardless of how official it appears. Instead, log into bank accounts only through official websites or verified mobile apps, and call the bank using the number printed on a statement or card, not a number provided in the suspicious message itself.

Anyone who believes they have already been targeted should take two immediate steps: preserve the original message or take screenshots before deleting anything, and report the attempt to the Sunapee Police Department so investigators can document patterns and issue broader warnings if the volume of incidents warrants it. Residents can also file a complaint with federal consumer protection authorities.

Sunapee is a small community where many residents rely on town channels for public-safety guidance, which makes the police department's direct advisory particularly valuable. Scams using bank and law enforcement impersonation are a persistent nationwide problem, but local reporting gives investigators the data they need to track whether a coordinated scheme is specifically targeting this area.

The Sunapee municipal website remains the official source for any follow-up notices from local public-safety agencies. Residents who receive a suspicious message are encouraged to share the department's advisory with neighbors and family members before the scam reaches another inbox.