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Phone Scammers Impersonate Escambia Sheriff’s Office Employees
July 22, 2018
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents of a phone scam.
The ECSO said a scammer called a potential victim, claiming to be an employee of the Sheriff’s Office. He told the victim that if he did not provide payment right away, a warrant would be issued for his arrest. The scammers have created a fake number for the ECSO with an official sounding phone greeting including department extensions.
There are multiple variations of this scam, and fraudsters are constantly devising new and innovative ways to take your hard-earned money, the real ECSO said.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office offered the following tips:
- 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” card payment, or wire transfer.
- Trust your instinct. 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.
- As a reminder, the real Escambia County Sheriff’s Office will not ask for payment to avoid arrest via gift card or pre-paid VISA or any other vendor.
- The ECSO’s non-emergency numbers are (850) 436-9630 or (850) 436-9620. The real ECSO’s phone server recording has the voice of Sheriff David Morgan.
Comments
One Response to “Phone Scammers Impersonate Escambia Sheriff’s Office Employees”
ESCSO showed on my landline phone indicating to me that maybe the Sheriff’s Department was calling. A recording (female voice) said “The police are coming for you. You will be taken under custody by the local cops, as there are four serious allegations pressed on your name at this moment. “We would request you to get back to us so that we can discuss about this case before taking any legal action against you.
The phone number that called is 850-972-5857. 07/19/18 @ 10:49AM
They gave the number to call them back (long distance) which I don’t have any longer. But immediately I called it back and it was a non-working number. You call the number above that showed on my caller ID and it gives a fast busy signal.