Colorado Springs realtor devastated as she’s been impersonated in scam
Mackenzie Stafford
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – In the last year, Kimberly Miller has been building up her business as a realtor in Colorado Springs. Now she’s speaking out before she says a scammer could ruin it all.
She says multiple people in Colorado Springs have received messages from someone claiming to be Miller. Some even left reviews on her Google Business that she was calling them incessantly, asking to buy their home, however, she says that’s something she would never do.
She first heard about the scam in April when one of her friends received a message from someone claiming to be Miller.
“She got a text message from someone saying it was me asking about real estate and if they wanted to sell their home,” explained Kimberly Miller.
Her friend reached out asking if she got a new number, and Miller was shocked. She told them she did not, and at first, she didn’t think much of it, until they started to reach out to others directly related to her.
“And then a couple of weeks later, my daughter’s preschool director stopped me when I was picking her up, which really concerned me because I don’t have her number in my phone or anything. And she asked if I had gotten a new number because she knew my number was a Denver area code, and it was the same phone number that had texted my friend a couple of weeks earlier. Same thing. It wasn’t me. And then I started posting about it on Instagram just to alert people, and I was getting notified by random strangers that they were getting messaged by this phone number, and even different phone numbers,” said Miller.
The realtor tells KRDO13 she started to lose sleep over it. She says the messages were so out of character for her business practices that she wants to make sure everyone is aware.
“I’ve emailed everyone I know, and I sent out a letter with the information about what’s going on to everyone in my database, and that works for everyone I know. The problem is all these people who don’t know me, and if they don’t, you know, look into it a little further. They’re just going to assume I’m some very obnoxious person,” said Miller.
She explained the anxiety she’s experienced as a result of the messages. She says she’s had to work with the people at Google to get the negative reviews removed.
“I don’t want my reputation tarnished by something that I have no control over. And it’s also something that I have nothing to do with,” pleaded Miller.
She says she tracked the phone numbers back to Bandwidth.com, a telecommunications company, and reached out.
“They were the ones who did the phone number providers. And so they did respond, at least with the numbers that I’ve been given so far said they shut the phone numbers down. The problem is that it seems like they’re changing the phone numbers pretty frequently,” explained Miller.
After reporting the scam to the FBI, the FTC, and Colorado Springs police, she’s doing everything she can to get the message out.
“I’m not sure what the big picture of the scammer is, but the fact that they’re targeting people is terrifying for everyone out there,” expressed Miller.
Miller even received messages from people living in Dallas, Texas, saying they got a message from someone claiming to be her.
The Colorado Springs Police Department says this is a legitimate case, and while it’s not clear if it’s been assigned yet, they say most cases like this are handled by the financial crimes team.
To help educate the public on what they can do if they receive a text like this, to fall victim to a similar scam, the Colorado Springs Police Department shared these tips:
If you don’t recognize the sender, block the number
Go online and research the Realtor/Office that they’re claiming to be and call the office
If they’re claiming to be from a specific Realtor/Office notify that company that someone’s claiming to work for them
Some tips for those wanting to prevent this:
Make sure your legitimate contact information is posted clearly online or on business cards
Communicate clearly with customers the ways in which you will send information
Remind people on how they can verify information is from you.
Report impersonators/scammers as quickly as possible.
-A spokesperson for the Colorado Springs Police Department