Grand Forks Sheriff's Office reports scam callers impersonating law enforcement

Jul. 29—The Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office is warning residents of scam callers who have attempted to steal money by impersonating local law enforcement.

So far, callers have impersonated sheriff's deputies as well as Grand Forks Police officers, and used the name of a former law enforcement officer in at least one of the calls. These particular calls have come from non-local numbers, but they have come from local numbers in the past, as well, according to a release from the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office.

During the calls, the scammer tries to tell the victim that they are in various forms of legal trouble — that they've missed jury duty, or that they have an active warrant for their arrest. They will then attempt to collect payment in the form of credit or debit cards, prepaid cash cards, gift cards or money transfer services, to name a few, over the phone in order to remedy the legal problems.

Law enforcement will never attempt to collect bond money over the phone, the release states.

Anyone who receives a call like this, the sheriff's office advises victims to hang up the phone with the original caller and contact the sheriff's office at 701-780-8280 or the Grand Forks Police Department at 701-787-8000.