Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis is warning residents about a recent phone scam that has been reported numerous times to his office.
In this scam, the victim is told they have an arrest warrant in their name and in order to avoid going to jail, the caller tells the individual that they need to pay a fine, according to a release from Evangelidis’ office. The caller never informs the victim of what the warrant is for and uses the Sheriff’s Office name or phone number.
The release states that in several cases, the caller identifies himself as “Officer Paul Gibbs of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office” before asking for money to clear up the warrant. The Sheriff’s Office warns this individual is not employed by the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department and is encouraging people to like this and to never give personal or financial information over the phone on calls like these.
“Our department does not contact residents and demand payment or ask for credit card information. Today’s scam artists are always trying to stay ahead of the curve and residents need to beware of any unsolicitated calls that ask for their personal or credit card information,” Evangelidis said. “These callers can sound convincing, will be aggressive and try to intimidate you, and even threaten you with jail time. We encourage anyone who gets a suspicious call to just hang up or call authorites first before giving out any type of personal information or money.
