GERING—The Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Office has received multiple reports of scam/fraudulent phone calls happening recently. We have had multiple reports today.
In some instances, the caller ID shows the phone number of our office. This is known as “spoofing,” and it’s very common. Crooks use various tools to decide what number shows up in your caller ID.
In some instances, callers have represented themselves and given accurate names of one or more Deputy Sheriffs that work here.
The callers are telling citizens that either there are arrest warrants for them, or that they have missed jury duty. In both instances the callers insist that citizens must pay a fine to avoid arrest.
To pay the fine, they must purchase some sort of gift/money transfer card that is available at multiple retail establishments.
The callers provide a call-back number that does NOT belong to the Sheriff’s Office.
If you buy a gift card and call them back and give them the numbers from that card, your money is gone. It is extremely unlikely that law enforcement will be able to track down the perpetrators and retrieve your money.
Law enforcement agencies NEVER phone people and ask them to purchase any type of gift or money transfer card to pay fines or fees.
Law enforcement agencies NEVER phone people to inform them that there are arrest warrants for them.
Law enforcement agencies NEVER phone people to tell them they’ve missed jury duty and must pay a fine to avoid arrest.
Anyone with questions may call the Communications Center non-emergency number at 308-436-6666.