The Ames Police Department is finding more and more cases of scams aimed at tricking Ames citizens into providing personal information to an anonymous source.

Home and business owners around Ames have recently been receiving notices posted on their doors that claim to be from a package delivery company. According to Ames Police, the cards appear to notify the owner or tenant that they had missed a package delivery and to call a number provided in order to receive it.

The notices reportedly resemble those commonly used by companies such as UPS Inc. or FedEx, but there is no indication of a specific company on the sheet. In fact, the provided phone number leads the caller to a generic sales pitch and no package.

“This is a company basically going door to door trying to give you their pitch,” said Cmdr. Geoff Huff, of Ames Police.

When the number is called, the operator typically asks for information you would not normally provide in order to get a package, such as whether or not you own the home or office to which the package was addressed. At this point most people have simply hung up, Huff said.

“It does not appear that they were trying to steal your identity in any way,” Huff said.  “But, we’d still consider that a scam and unethical.”

There has not been any report of this scam being successful. However, the actions by this company are considered a crime.

“Technically, if they want to go door-to-door to do sales in Ames they need to get a permit from the city, which this company has not,” Huff said.

“If we catch any of those posting these false notices, they will receive a municipal fine for doing so without a license and their pamphlets will be seized,” said Sgt. Chris Crippin, of Ames Police.

The fine is applied by the city of Ames for advertising to Ames citizens without a permit and is of a minimal amount, Crippin said.

Huff said this company’s actions are “more immoral than unlawful.”

“There are a lot more scams out there,” Crippin said. “This one’s more false-advertising.”

Ames Police urges any businesses or citizens that may find one of these falsified notices not to respond. If a legitimate delivery company leaves notices on front doors, that company or business title should be printed clearly on the paper.