Phone scam alert

Phone Scammers Claiming to be Law Enforcement Officers

The Sheriff’s Office is receiving reports from community members who are receiving calls from a male claiming to be from the Sheriff’s Office.  The caller is identifying himself using names of actual Sheriff’s Office employees.  The caller tells the person that they have a warrant, or have missed jury duty, and that they owe money and may be arrested if they do not pay immediately.  The caller usually directs the person to purchase a “green dot money pack” from a local retailer to pay their “fines”.

These calls are a scam, and community members should hang up immediately and not engage with the caller.  These calls are not associated with the Lane County Sheriff’s Office in any way.

The Lane County Sheriff’s Office does not make phone calls to community members regarding warrants and would never ask a community member to purchase “cash cards” to pay fees.  If you are the victim of a phone scam, please report it to your local law enforcement agency, and follow these tips to decrease your chances of becoming a phone scam victim:

· Never provide personal information to callers, including your name, address, or banking information.

· Be aware of callers who are unprofessional, pushy, or use scare tactics such as threatening arrest if payment is not made.

· Callers asking for payment through wire transfer, cash cards such as green dot cards, or other non-trackable methods are signs of a scam.  Legitimate government agencies will not ask you to provide payment using these methods.

· Check the caller’s information.  If they claim to be from a law enforcement agency or other governmental agency, call the publicly listed phone number for that agency to verify the caller’s authenticity.

You can view more information on scams by visiting the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Information website on phone scams at http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-phone-scams. />

Community members can also report fraud to the Oregon Attorney General’s Consumer Hotline by calling 1-877-877-9392.