Sheriff’s Office warns of phone scams

BY KEVIN FLANDERS STAFF WRITER

SPENCER NEW LEADER

REGION — Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis has issued a warning to residents regarding a phone scam involving the Sheriff’s Office.

The phone scammers, posing as employees of the Sheriff’s Office, inform victims that they have an arrest warrant or charges filed in their names, officials warned. The scammers then tell victims they must pay a fine to avoid being arrested and serving jail time.

Another common phone scam involves scammers telling individuals they have missed jury duty, which also results in a fine.

“Unfortunately, we recently received a report of an individual who was scammed out of over $20,000,” Evangelidis said. “With the amount of information sharing and readily available data on consumer habits, scammers may know where you bank, the products you buy, or the names of your loved ones. Scam artists will go to any length to trick you into sharing personal information or issuing irreversible payments.”

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), this type of scam is called spoofing. Scammers deliberately falsify the information transmitted to your caller ID display, in an effort to disguise their identities.

“Scammers often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number, or spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust,” read a statement released by the Sheriff’s Office.

In the case of the Sheriff’s Office scam, the scammers use the names of actual officers and spoof the department’s phone number. The scammers then ask for money to clear up nonexistent warrants and other bogus items.

In some instances, the callers request that payments be made in the form of gift certificates or via apps such as Venmo or Cash App, officials warned. The scammers will then ask victims to remain on the line until they purchase gift certificates or relay specific financial information.

The Sheriff’s Office encourages local residents to be aware of suspicious calls, 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 testing new tactics. Residents need to be aware of any unsolicited calls that ask for their personal or financial information,” Evangelidis added. “These callers can sound convincing, may be aggressive, or try to intimidate you with threats of jail time or steep fines. We encourage anyone who gets a suspicious call to hang up and contact their associated institutions directly to verify any requests.”