Sheriff’s Office Recovers Cash from Scams

Clay County Sheriff’s Office investigators recovered over $150,000.00 in cash earlier this year that unsuspecting victims had been swindled out of by various scams. In the last two months, deputies have recovered another $200,000.00, as well as an additional $20,000.00 this week alone. The Sheriff’s Office has been able to return a vast majority of the money to those victims.

In the last two months, deputies have recovered $200,000.00

“Each time we’ve contacted a victim and returned their hard earned money they’ve shared stories about how convincing some of these criminals can be,” states a post on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. “The most recent disturbing scam involves the impersonation of a veteran Clay County Sheriff’s Deputy. These impostors demand payment of a fine in lieu of arrest due to a claim of failing to appear in court, jury duty, or other offenses. They tell their victims they can avoid arrest by withdrawing cash and transferring or mailing it, purchasing prepaid debit cards and reading the card number over the phone to pay the fine, or by depositing cash into bitcoin ATMs.”

The Sheriff’s Office warns that scammers use several tactics to appear credible such as providing badge numbers, use inaudible radio traffic as background noise to appear more realistic, and using names of actual law enforcement officials. They’re also known to spoof their phone numbers to appear as if they’re calling from an official number.

The Sheriff’s Office reminds the public that law Enforcement will never call you to demand payment for missing court or any other reason. If you believe you’ve been the victim of one of these scams, and lost money, please contact your local law enforcement agency.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story