Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Warns of Scammers Pretending to be Law Enforcement
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office has issued a scam alert.
The department says someone is pretending to be a deputy, to get you to give up your money.
Sgt. Jeff Davis says me these calls have increased in the last couple of months, with some people falling victim to them.
“The person will call and say, for instance my name,” said Davis.
The caller attempts to place fear into people to get thousands of dollars.
“They have a warrant down at the sheriff’s office, they’ve missed jury duty or they’ve missed a fine, and simply the only way they can take care of the warrant, they will have to come down here or missing jury duty go to their local CVS or Walgreens and pick up a green dot card,” said Davis.
Davis says several people have fallen victim. Fortunately for one person $1,500 was recovered.
“If you do fall victim to this, there is a number on the back of the card and if you call that number and if you provide that receipt and the location where you purchased the card, they can automatically stop payment on the card and issue you a refund,” said Davis.
While the money can be recovered if you act quickly, Davis says it’s difficult to catch up with the thief who usually uses “voice over internet” numbers.”
“I’ve actually had my own cell phone number call me before. Once that number is “outed” so to speak, they’ll just make up a new number and start their scam all over again,” said Davis.
To avoid an empty wallet, keep this in mind.
“If you’re wanted and we’re trying to get in touch with you, we will come to your house looking for you,” said Davis.
Authorities say it is difficult to catch these scammers. But they say anyone caught impersonating a law enforcement officer will be prosecuted.
