Eagle County Sheriff’s Office: Scammers claiming to be local law enforcement
The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office said it received several complaints Friday afternoon about a scammer calling people and claiming to be a detective with an arrest warrant.
The scammer was claiming to be “Detective Dempsey” and calling community members with a confusing story about how arrest warrants are being completed now due to COVID-19, and claiming that the victim needs to go to a bank to get money to settle a warrant.
“Several victims did the right thing, questioned the scammer, hung up, and called the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office directly to speak with a deputy who quickly confirmed no warrants exist,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release Friday.
The scammer’s number was identified as 970-329-7092, where a caller is prompted to leave a message for the Eagle County Sheriff’s office “warrants and citation division.” This is a scam.
The sheriff’s office asks people to not give this person any personal information or money, and to hang up and call the sheriff’s office if you have been contacted by this person. “If you have a direct concern or have given any form of personal information, money or gift cards, please call our dispatch center at 970-479-2201 to speak to an on-duty deputy,” the sheriff’s office said.
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The sheriff’s office continues to receive scam reports about scammers trying to gain access to personal accounts and asking for payments to avoid legal actions. They are attempting to contact people by phone, email, text support, and even cell phone texts.
“Scammers are posing as officials from local agencies giving actual names of employees from courts, sheriff’s office, police departments, probation, and sex offender registrar systems,” the sheriff’s office said. “Scammers will continue to give names of senior members of law enforcement teams. They are threatening arrests and direct payments for funds to remove warrants, for failure to appear, for being in contempt of court, and more. This is simply not how we do business.”
The sheriff’s office adds that scammers have technology they can use to make them appear to be calling from a local phone number, a local business, or even a law enforcement agency. “Just hang up, call the agency (they claim to be from) back directly and ask for the person who said they were calling,” the sheriff’s office said.