Greene County Sheriff’s Office warns of phone scam

A scammer is reportedly calling Greene County residents with claims of an arrest warrant and demanding money to avoid arrest, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office reported. Initial reports show that the scam involves multiple people.

The Greene County Sheriff’s Office said that the scammer claims to be a part of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office or a judge. The scammer claims there is a warrant for the victim’s arrest for failure to appear for jury duty and contempt of court. When the victim hangs up and calls back, a different person answers the phone and transfers the victim to someone impersonating the appropriate staff member, who tells the victim they can avoid arrest by purchasing MoneyPak or Green Dot cards, The Greene County Sheriff’s Office said.

Once payment is made, the victims are told to appear at the Clerk of Courts office at a specific time and date to submit to a handwriting analysis. The victims are given a name of the judge that issued the false warrant, Greene County officials reported.

“At no time will a citizen be contacted by a member of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office over the phone and be asked to make payment for of any kind for any reason,” a Facebook post by the sheriff’s office stated. “If someone is asking you to purchase gift cards or money cards to make payment, know that most of those cards are untraceable and that is why they want you to purchase those.”

If you receive a call like this, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office asks that you hang up and call local law enforcement immediately.

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