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Telephone Scammer Poses As Sheriff’s Office Employee
October 7, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office says someone claiming to work for their agency tried to scam a woman out of $1,000 over the phone.
The scammer called the potential victim and claimed to be a member of the Sheriff’s Office, and the calling phone number had been altered so that it appeared on the victim’s caller ID to have originated from the Escambia Sheriff’s Office Administration Building.
The caller claimed to be an employee of the Sheriff’s Office and told the recipient that if she did not send $1,000 by electronic payment right away, he would issue a warrant for her arrest for failure to appear for jury duty.The recipient became suspicious and contacted the Sheriff’s Office, which confirmed that the call was not legitimate.
Multiple versions of this telephone scam are being reported, with the caller claiming to be from a law enforcement agency, a utility, or the IRS.
The Sheriff’s Office, in a new release, offered the following tip to prevent becoming a victim of telephone fraud:
- Always be suspicious of any threatening calls claiming to be from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office or any other business-especially if it is coming from a business that you do not normally patronize.
- A legitimate business will not resort to threats as a first response to a late or missed payment.
- Always be suspicious when asked to send an electronic payment, “Green Dot” or other money card payment, or wire transfer
- Trust your instincts. If you feel that something “just isn’t right, call your local law enforcement agency and report it. It is much easier to prevent fraud in the first place than to recover your money after the fact.
Comments
3 Responses to “Telephone Scammer Poses As Sheriff’s Office Employee”
I also got the IRS call from a guy with a foreign accent…they’re not very smart…
The other nightI had persistent creep that called 3 times stating that she was Office Julia Smith with the IRS and I or my attorney needed to contact her immediately. When I finally returned the phone call I got some guy telling me that he was Officer Robert Jones with the IRS and that he needed to know some vidal information. I played along for awhile, but grew tired of the Pakistani accent and scream an ear piercing screech into the phone. When I tried to call the number back about 5 minutes later it went straight to voicemail. I guess he didn’t want to play with me anymore!
I had one call one night informing me, in a thick accent, that the ECSO had a warrant for my arrest and that I needed to come turn myself in. I informed the caller that when the ECSO has a warrant for your arrest that they do no call, they come and effect an arrest.