Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office say scam calls claiming to be them are on the rise

The Allegheny County Sherriff’s Office is warning about a rise in scam calls from people identifying themselves as sworn personnel from their office.

The sheriff’s office said the calls are targeting professionals who work in the medical and education fields -- people whose employment licenses and certificates would be subject to review and or revocation if they were criminally charged.

Back in February, our reporter Gabriella DeLuca was the target of one of these scam calls.

During these calls, the scammers will inform the potential victim that they’ve missed either jury duty or an order to testify in a case and now could be arrested unless they pay a fine. The payments are always requested as gift cards or payment apps, such as Venmo and Zelle.

Allegheny County Sherriff Kevin Kraus reminds everyone that their office will never demand any type of payment over the phone, nor will discuss warrants over the phone.

If you receive one of these calls, you are asked to report it to their investigations division at 412-350-4709.

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