Scammers target persons forced to register as sex offenders with fake warrant claims
The Steuben County (RI)Sheriff’s Office has issued a warning about scammers impersonating law enforcement officials to extort money from registered sex offenders.
Sheriff Jim Allard reports that scammers are contacting registered sex offenders claiming to be members of the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office.
The fraudulent callers tell victims that arrest warrants have been issued due to missed DNA submissions.
The scammers then demand payment through “non-traditional means” to have the supposed warrants vacated.
Potential victims should contact law enforcement by calling 911 or their local police department to report any suspected scam activity.
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I received that call in Miami
Wow just reporting this? I told everyone about this years ago. I even called the police saying someone was impersonating cops to harass registrant’s. Their comment “well you shouldn’t have committed the crime’ I even just had this conversation with the Parole Officer. He said he’d have probably said the same thing and I told him “well like it or not I’m still a Veteran and a Citizen of this Country” He didn’t care for that. Anyway should I get those harassing calls I tell them. “OK call you people and tell them the front door is unlocked there’s no reason to break it down, I want to see a judge” They change their tune to that one.
This happened to me a couple of years ago here in Hernando County. I knew that it was a scam right from the get go when the caller described himself as a detective with the Hernando County Sheriffs “Department”, not “Office. He told me that there was a warrant out for my arrest and the bond was $10k but that I could stop that by paying 10%, $3k. I decided to go ahead a play the game with him so he gave me all the info that I needed to take care of this. I even pretended that I was on my way to the bank to get the money while he stayed on the line. I was actually just driving around the block. After about 10 minutes I called him out on his scam. The next thing I heard was click.
These jerks have called my 5 times over the last 4 or 5 years. The first time fist scared the hell out of me.
They had 4 guys working this scam and had it set up like it was in an office. Separate phone numbers to call etc. i was on the hook for about an hour until the so called, detective, got really aggressive. I was close to a land line and started calling my local registration office to verify this. I had it on the speaker. The guy on the other end of my cellphone heard me dialing and really got pissed off. I told him I was calling my lawyer. He hung up. Now when these morons call, I screw with them big time. It makes my day!
I’m sorry to hear the registrant had that happen. At first, itscares the hell out of you. Unfortunately I know because I’ve been on the receiving end of this s am numerous times. And not just while living in Florida. Now when I get these calls I laugh at the caller. I tell them they are full of sh!t and I call thier bluff. I tell them that if they are real cops, then they know where I live, so come and arrest me. So far, oddly enough, no one has showed up. Stand firm.
If you don’t recognize the number, don’t answer. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message. Block numbers you don’t know.