Watch Out: Latest Money Grab Scam Involves A Hudson Valley Sheriff’s Office

Sadly, it appears that the scammers are out in full swing this fall trying to separate us from our hard-earned money whilst causing us to panic. It is important to stay calm.

This past week, the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office warned residents of the latest scam that was ripping people's cash from their pockets. They want to alert everyone that the newest scam involves a person calling and posing as a law enforcement officer.

Phone Scam Now Involves the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department

According to some reports, people received calls from a person claiming to be from the Sheriff's Office stating that their name was Officer Johnson. The reason for the call was to inform the person being scammed that they failed to report to jury duty and must pay a fine.

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Now let's face it, this is a new twist on an old scam. Plus, many people do overlook jury duty so that could also trick you when this person states there is a warrant for your arrest.

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Of course, it also goes down the typical root of asking you to purchase a prepaid Debit card and that should be the red flag. According to the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department, this is the classic scam disguised in a sheriff's uniform, don't fall for it even if you did skip out on jury duty.

“Nowhere in New York State do you pay a fine over the phone for anything”. The Sheriff said that there are different versions of this scam but they all have one thing in common, “they want you to send money via a prepaid debit card, Western Union, MoneyGram or they send someone to your house to pick it up. Don’t fall for it”, said the Sheriff. (via Sullivan County Sheriff's Office-Sullivan County New York Facebook)

So the bottom line is if you answer your phone and someone says you did something and you owe them money please don't fall for it.

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