By: Southbridge Evening News, June 4, 2020
REGION — Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis is warning residents about a recent phone scam in which the caller tells victims they have an arrest warrant issued in their name. In order
to avoid going to jail, the caller tells the individual they need to pay a fine. Unlike previous scams which involved claims of missed jury duty, the current scam does not say what the warrant is issued for. The scam artist fraudulently uses the Sheriff’s Office name and/ or a phony telephone number. Many calls have originated from the phone number, (508) 635-0166. This line has a misleading recording designed to sound like the Sheriff’s Office. This number is not associated with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department and is a scam.
In recent days, the sheriff’s office has received numerous reports of this type of phone scam. The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office encourages people to be aware of calls like this and to never give personal or financial information over the phone to anyone whom you didn’t call yourself. “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, residents need to beware of any unsolicited calls that ask for cash, money card payments, their personal or credit card information,” said the Sheriff. “These callers can sound convincing, will be aggressive and try to intimidate you, even threaten you with jail time. We encourage anyone who gets a suspicious call to just hang up or call authorities first before giving out any type of personal information or money.”
