The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is investigating several deceptive practice/impersonating a peace officer cases, where an offender is calling Lake County residents pretending to be a deputy or sergeant with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The offender identifies himself as a deputy or sergeant and informs the caller they have an active warrant for their arrest, or that they have outstanding civil process paperwork. Sometimes the scammer provides the victim with the victim’s name and address, making the victim feel that the caller is a police officer. The scammer orders the victim to purchase gift cards and provide the gift card numbers/pins to the scammer in order to satisfy the warrant. The scammer has also asked victims for their social security numbers, banking information, and other sensitive information. The scammer is utilizing real names of sheriff’s office employees. The scammer is also ‘spoofing’ their telephone number to make it appear as if the call is coming from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office reminds the community that government will never call and order you to pay money in the form of gift cards. If you receive an unsolicited call from anyone requesting money, you should be suspicious. If a person claims to be a government agency, call that government agency first to determine the validity of the call, before discussing anything. If you have been the victim of a scam, contact your local law-enforcement.
|