A phone scam that doesn’t seem to be going away in Brazos County is someone impersonating a sheriff’s officer and demanding money to avoid arrest.
Sheriff Chris Kirk says the con artists have most recently identified themselves as a Deputy Gibson or Guess.
Law enforcement, the courts, and utility companies will not demand payment over the phone. Kirk says to not say anything, hang up, and call the sheriff’s office.
Meantime, investigators are awaiting autopsy results from a Tuesday afternoon death at a shooting range where Kirk says the preliminary cause of death is a self inflicted gunshot wound.
Click below for comments from Chris Kirk, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver:
News release about the ongoing phone scam from the Brazos County Sheriff’s office:
The Sheriff’s Office has continued to receive reports from citizens who have received phone calls from individuals claiming to be with The Brazos County Sheriff’s Office. Most recently the person in this scenario identifies himself as a Deputy Gibson or Guess from the Sheriff’s Office.
This is a tactic often used by con artists to make it appear the victim is receiving the call from a law enforcement agency. In this scenario, the victims are being told they have outstanding arrest warrants for a failure to appear for Jury Duty or a court date. To resolve this issue, payment must be made promptly through a pre-loaded debit card, or by a credit card. If the victim refuses to cooperate, the caller threatens arrest, deportation, etc. In many cases, the callers have been reported to have become aggressive, hostile and insulting.
These con artists can sound convincing. They use fake names and bogus identification badge numbers. They may also know a lot about the individuals they are targeting. These con artists often alter the caller ID to make it look as though a government or a law enforcement agency is actually calling.
The Sheriff’s Office, or other law enforcement agencies, will never:
-Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about debts owed without first having mailed you a notice,
-Demand that you pay debts without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed,
-Require you to use a specific payment method for your debts, such as with a prepaid debit card, and
-Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.