Member Submission: Scammers Targeting Registrants
This was submitted by a member:
I am a registered sex offender here in Hillsborough County FL. I was scammed on Christmas eve 2 days ago by a phone call claiming to be a Hillsborough County Sheriffs deputy and that I was in non compliance, The number I called 813-261-9415 answered please press 0 to be connected, then a musical interlude during which my call waiting showed the same number I was calling was calling me back, the same individual claiming to be a Sheriffs deputy claimed that I was in non compliance as the new law required updated DNA I was confused as DNA does not change, but to keep compliant I was ready to comply, he then told me a warrant had been filed and I had to drive to Tampa and that I would have a hearing and that until then could post bond but that they do not accept cash, charge, check or debit, that I needed a third party card, like from walmart or walgreen this is when knew it was a scam, I called the Sheriffs office who stated if I were under arrest as in a warrant they would never call they would simply come and arrest me and that they do not accept funds for bond that is handled through a bond agent, I am writing this to make others aware this scam is out there and they are targeting our fears of arrest to make us act in fear and confusion and make and attempts to stay free to the point of not thinking clearly. I checked the FDLE and county Sheriffs website for warrants and there are none, had I done this during the call it would have been a much nicer Christmas.. Be aware!
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I had a call last week telling me that I owed a tax bill to the IRS. And that a Federal warrant would be issued for me unless I paid: I just laughed and hung up since I have been disabled since 1983 an m now on SS and therefore have not had any tax bills due since 1984 when I filed my last tax return. There are a lot of such people out there so beware.
Sadly this is only a variant of the IRS scam. But because of the public registry, it is easier for the scammers to get ahold of registrants information. Making the scam seem even more realistic. It is pretty obvious though that the scammers are clueless when it comes to registrants. If they knew anything they would know that the majority of registrants can’t even get a job. So paying any bond would be difficult. All this does is simply showcase how the government has made a public hit list and nothing more. Really sorry to hear someone had a scammer call. Thankfully this person had enough sense to check it out. Always remember our government wants cash, not gift cards.
I had a similar scam pulled on me this past summer from a detective that said he had enough evidence to charge me with child porn. He said he got it off his son’s cellphone. He wanted 4k not to arrest me i played along, knowing i am not on social media nor intersted in child porn. It got to the point of threatening me and i had to change my number. The detective said he was out of Brevard county and gave me his badge number. Lol he was willing to take monthly payments. The badge number was real but i called their bluff and have never heard from them. At one point he wanted to know if i was home sa he could come and arrest me. I just laughed and made out a police report.
The same thing happened to me in Monroe County in the Florida Keys. I drove straight to the sheriff substation on cudjoe key. I went in to the substation and handed the phone to the receptionist explaining what was going on. She found it humorous said that the same thing or similar things have happened to even the people in the office and chose to do nothing about it. I was flabbergasted at the casual attitude toward this invasion of privacy merely because I was on the sex offender registry
as long as we have a corrupt congress we will have scammer vigilantes. why wouldn’t they? they are being encouraged by the government.
About three years ago I had a similar call from a supposed “U.S. Marshal” who spoke with a thick Eastern Indian accent. He said I had a warrant but could pay with my credit card over the phone to make the fine go away otherwise he would arrest me. I told him to come in over and get me as I know this was a scam. Nobody showed up. No warrant. No arrest. And no payment to scammers either.