SHERIFF WARNS OF WARRANT SCAM CALLS

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

 

April 22, 2014 (San Diego)--It's a startling phone call you could receive: "There's a warrant out for your arrest." A scam going on right now in many counties hopes that fear will cause you to act without thinking.

The caller is very pushy and poses as an employee of the Sheriff's Department, demanding money. To make the pitch very convincing, the scammer will:

  • Use the name of an actual Sheriff's Department employee;
  • Give the actual telephone number of a Sheriff's Station or Substation;
  • Have some of your personal information such as a former address or your date of   birth;
  • Threaten you with jail time or taking away your driver license;
  • Ask for more personal information;
  • ASK FOR MONEY either with a credit, debit or prepaid card.

Impersonating a Sheriff's Deputy is a violation of state law. Remember, no deputy or employee of the Sheriff's Department will ever contact members of the public by telephone to demand money or any other form of payment. If you get this type of call, hang up immediately.

People with outstanding warrants are encouraged to turn themselves in Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at any one of the Sheriff's Court Facilities http://goo.gl/y035S. For more information on warrants and bail notices, visit http://goo.gl/J5N5g. To check if you have an outstanding warrant in the County of San Diego, visit http://goo.gl/J5N5g.

To watch a safety video about warrant scams, follow the Sheriff's Depaertment on YouTube: http://goo.gl/sYmLlm.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.