Genesee County, Michigan – The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office recently issued a warning to citizens regarding a phone scam where law enforcement personnel are impersonated in order to extort money from naive targets. Sheriff Chris Swanson claims that con artists claim that people have outstanding warrants and should pay to escape being imprisoned
Stressing the need of confirming any such claims with local authorities, Sheriff Swanson warned the public of these false calls during a recent social media address.
“If there’s a question, you come right down to the sheriff’s office. You go right to your local police department and you ask that officer or that supervisor, or that administrative command officer to validate it, and I can bet you nine times out of ten it’s going to be fake,” said Swanson.
The sheriff warned that individuals should never reveal financial information over the phone. He said the scammers fit multinational crime syndicates using public data to create allegations that seem credible. Sheriff Swanson went through their strategies.
“They want you to pay a bond. They want you to bring money. They’re going to tell you to go to a different location, but on the way there, they’re going to divert you to just reading the numbers on the back of some type of money card or some type of financial transfer,” he said.
The timing of these scams is especially clever since people are usually busier and might not pay attention to such calls as the holiday season is under way. Sheriff Swanson asked residents to be alert and to let friends and relatives who might be especially vulnerable to such schemes know.
“These awful, horrible human beings are from all over the world that do this. It’s almost impossible to track them down,” Sheriff Swanson added, highlighting the global scale and elusive nature of these criminal networks.
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office is providing direction on how to handle potential scam calls and is strongly encouraging anyone who answers such calls to report them right away. Residents are reminded that genuine law enforcement officers will never ask for financial transactions over the phone or through unsecured methods like money cards.
This alert serves as a critical reminder of the importance of remaining cautious and questioning any unsolicited requests for money, particularly those purporting to be from authoritative sources. The Sheriff’s Office continues to work diligently to raise awareness and protect citizens from these sophisticated and damaging scams.