Scammers unknowingly call sheriff’s employee in Missouri: They’re ‘relentless,’ deputies say
LIBERTY, Mo. (WDAF) – Con artists pretending to work for the sheriff’s office in Clay County, Missouri, picked the wrong mark during a recent phone scam when they attempted to bilk money out of an employee with the office.
Scammers have been calling residents of Clay County pretending to be sheriff’s office employees, and then asking for money to pay for phony bonds, or to keep fake warrants from being issued.
“The scammers are saying that there’s a warrant for [a person’s] arrest because they missed jury duty, or they were supposed to be an expert witness in a trial,” Sarah Boyd, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office’s public relations manager, said.
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But on Monday, the scammers found themselves trying to scam the very people they were impersonating — the actual employees at Clay County Sheriff’s Office, who caught the whole conversation on tape.
The sheriff’s office noted on Facebook that these scammers have been “relentless” all week, prompting Boyd to call them back at the (seemingly local) phone number they were calling from.
“I called from my sheriff’s office phone number, I didn’t think they would answer but they sure did,” Boyd said.
During their conversation, the man on the phone used the name of a major with the department, and claimed Boyd had “two Class A misdemeanor citations.” The man then requested $2,500 for the first citation and $2,000 for the second one. The scammer threatened Boyd with jail time if she wasn’t able to pay.
“OK, so that’s $4,500 all together?” Boyd asked.
“Yes ma’am that’s correct,” he replied.
“And if I do this, I won’t get arrested?” she asked again.
“No ma’am you won’t get arrested,” he responded.
The scammers also often use law enforcement terms to intimidate and confuse the victims, though they weren’t very good at it, in this case.
In a recording of the call, the scammer can be heard telling Boyd of a judge — “Catherine Mitchell” — who would be overseeing her case.
“There isn’t a Judge Catherine Mitchell in Clay County,” Boyd said.
“Yes ma’am there is. She is the special, uh, special judge court,” the scammer stammered.
Boyd said the callers often try to use legal terms, but sometimes end up speaking in “legal word salad” that doesn’t always make sense.
“Throwing out all these terms, it’s just enough that if you’re not as familiar with the criminal justice system, you can be tricked by it.”
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The department is currently working with federal agencies to track down and stop the scammers, but that can prove to be a difficult task.
“They can be anywhere in the world,” she said.
Boyd also stressed that the department will never ask for payment over the phone. It’s one of the biggest red flags, she said, and victims should hang up and report the call to the local police.
“We’re never going to call you, we’re never going to ask for money. We don’t take electronic payments not even via credit card,” she said.
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