The Grayson County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police possibly saved a Grayson County woman from sending a scam artist “the entire requested amount” of money.
The incident, according to Sheriff Norman Chaffins, occurred on Wednesday when the woman received a phone call telling her she “missed a federal court subpoena or failed to report for jury duty.”
The woman was also told a warrant for her arrest had been issued.
“It just so happened that this citizen was legitimately chosen for federal jury duty a few days ago, but ‘thought’ that it had been canceled,” Chaffins said.
The caller, claiming to be Deputy Clark with the sheriff’s office, told the woman she needed to complete paperwork related to her missed court date.
“This citizen left work and was not seen or heard from for a couple of hours before we were notified,” Chaffins stated. “The citizen’s friends and co-workers made contact with ‘Dpty. Clark’ from a number that was left on the desk of our citizen. They were told that she was with him in his car and they were filling out paperwork concerning the missed federal court date. However, the ‘Deputy’ hung up on them when they asked to speak with her and began to ask further questions.”
The sheriff’s office then started the process of tracking the woman’s phone, “at the same time family members were tracking her on the way to Elizabethtown on Life360.”
“We immediately dispatched police units to a grocery store in E-town which was where Life360 showed as her location,” according to Chaffins. “A trooper spotted her vehicle in the parking lot and went inside the store where she had already sent the scammer some money. He stopped her before she sent the entire requested amount.”
Chaffins said he later learned the woman was never in personal contact with the scam artist.
“We also learned that she was instructed to NOT use her phone, accept calls, make calls or that she would be arrested because her phone was being tracked,” Chaffins said. “This was a unique situation as this is the first time to my knowledge that the scammer said he was with the victim. That sent up alarm flags with her friends and even law enforcement because she was NOT answering her phone. However, she was NEVER with him.”
Improving technology has allowed scammers to become “more and more elaborate,” the sheriff noted, as the caller ID on the scammer’s phone said the call was coming from the Grayson County Detention Center.
“That is what we call spoofing,” Chaffins stated. “Someone can make a phone call and make the caller ID appear as the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office or even the FBI.”
Chaffins said he would like emphasize that no law enforcement agency will threaten someone with arrest for not showing up for court or missing a court date, and then ask for money, “unless it is in an open courtroom, and you are speaking face-to-face to the judge.”
“We will never ask you to send money over the phone to satisfy any court judgment, or ask you to go somewhere to pay in bitcoin, or any other money app,” Chaffins stressed. “If you are ever unsure about anyone that calls you regarding sending money over the Internet or other avenue, please call and speak directly to the sheriff or other law enforcement person that you know personally before you send any money or give out personal information.”
The sheriff noted that the same scam was unsuccessfully attempted on another Grayson County citizen following the resolution of the above scam attempt.
“Be vigilant Grayson County,” Chaffins said, “your personal and financial well-being depends on it.”
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
