FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office again warning residents about phone scams.
A man claiming to be from Sheriff’s Office is threatening to arrest people for supposedly failing to appear in court.
“They issue a a badge number, they say they are from the Warrants & Citation Unit” which we don’t actually have here.” – Fresno Sheriff’s Spokesperson Tony Botti.
Botti says victims are told that to avoid jail time they need to pay money or even meet the man in person, and buy gift cards. They received reports of the scam artist directing a person to purchase the gift cards and read them the security codes on the card, which allows the suspect access to the money. Some of the more popular gift cards requested are Vanilla Visa and Green Dot MoneyPak. Requests are usually made for hundreds of dollars.
“Take down any information that you gather from them, it would be nice if you could get that name and a badge number they are using if you get a number off a caller ID, all that can be helpful to file a report.” – Fresno Sheriff’s Spokesperson Tony Botti.
Call your local law enforcement to report any calls, you can also go on the Fresno Sheriff’s website www.fresnosheriff.org and click on “Report a Crime” located at the top of the page.
You may also make a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission by visiting https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-3
Click below to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
