Scam Alert: Overdue Warrant

Another year, another scam. We always want to keep you up-to-date on the latest attempts of scammers, many of which we hear from local law enforcement.

The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that scammers are calling people pretending to be from their office and demanding a fine for a warrant. Here’s how it works: The scammers call and inform you of a warrant for failure to appear at court or jury duty. They’ll instruct you to go to a retailer that sells a “MoneyPak” card. As an attempt to legitimize the transaction, they’ll instruct you to go to the Sheriff’s Office or Regional Detention Facility to meet them, but then be “unable” to meet and ask for you to scratch off the number on the back and give it to them. Once you’ve given up the number, your money is gone.

This isn’t just limited to this particular county. In fact, scammers do their research and find a member of the Sheriff’s Office name online and use that name when they target a victim. They may also spoof a number on your ID to appear to come from that office. If you have any doubts about a suspicious call, it’s always best to hang up, look up the originating number yourself, and call it back. Most of the time, you’ll never receive a call demanding money or threatening arrest from a public official.

If you suspect a number is a scam, you can always report it to the FCC either through their website or directly inside of the PrivacyStar app.