August 8, 2024
NEWS RELEASE
Phones scams are unfortunately too common in our area and come in a variety of tactics. One of the most common phone scams comes from suspect(s) posing as local Law Enforcement, often times from a number masked as an actual office or non-emergency number and using the names of active Deputies or Officers. Once again, Deputy names and contact information from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office has been utilized in this type of scam over the past several days in our area. The premise of this scam is to make the victim believe they have a warrant, missed a court date or jury duty, or owe some sort of fine. The suspects offer up enough accurate information about our area and portray themselves in a convincing way to make the would-be victim believe they will be arrested if they fail to act or return their call.
Ultimately, these scammers offer up a solution to avoid an arrest or jail time involving paying a fine or some type of bond. A tell-tale sign of this scam is having to pay the “fine” over the phone in various ways to avoid arrest, often times telling the victim their credit or debit card is rejected and they must purchase money or gift cards at a local store and call them back with the card numbers and information.
When a person actually owes fines to the courts or has an active warrant for their arrest, there is never a time when Law Enforcement or the Courts will call them and ask them for money over the phone. Additionally, paying fines through a gift card or money card obtained at a store over the phone is never an acceptable form of payment to Idaho Courts. Typically, a person is aware of any pending court action or outstanding fines and can always call their local courts or Law Enforcement to verify the status of their case if they’re not sure. The public can also call their local court to find out and verify the acceptable methods of paying outstanding fines or fees. If a person has an outstanding Warrant for their arrest, that person would be required to appear in person at the court or present themselves to the Jail or Law Enforcement for any sort of process to begin. In some cases, a person can pay fines to the courts using the accepted methods and the warrant will be withdrawn, however direct contact with court clerks by the person involved or their attorney is required.
Fortunately, most people have experienced some type of phone call, social media, text or email scam and are suspicious of these things. Many local retail stores even train their staff to ask customers purchasing gift or money cards if they are being forced to do so as part of a scam as a way of prevention. Even still, Deputies often take reports from victims who have lost a considerable amount of money before they realized they were being scammed.
If you are a victim of a scam and have suffered a loss of money or property, always report the incident to your local Law Enforcement so it can be investigated. It’s common for our Deputies and area Law Enforcement to contact people in our community for legitimate reasons. However, if you feel the person contacting you is part of a scam it’s best to hang up and call the direct line or non-emergency number to the Sheriff’s Office or Dispatch to verify. Remember, Deputies and Law Enforcement will never ask for money over the phone to alleviate a warrant, fine, or court action. If you believe you are being scammed in some manner, it’s always a good idea to monitor your financial accounts, update passwords, and enable security verifications for your online accounts to make sure your information is as safe as possible.
