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A new phone scam has surfaced that threatens to arrest victims for check fraud. A Clark County resident received a phone call from a very official sounding “Investigator Morgan” claiming to be with a generic sounding law office. The caller not only sounded official, but also knew the victim’s name, Social Security number, birthday and address. The scammer told the victim that there was a pre-trial docket set for him in Clark County Court for check fraud. The victim was told that he could stop the case immediately if he paid $1,096.
Although the victim had not used a check in years, he was frightened by the call. He held his ground though, got off the phone with the official sounding scammer and searched online to get insight. He called the court and his suspicions were verified. The call was a scam.
Different variations of this and other similar scams regularly surface in our community. Senior citizens are a favorite target of these scammers. The scam artists usually call unwitting victims and claim they have a warrant for their arrest or a warrant for a family member for skipping jury duty. They offer up a few details that appear to check out through a cursory Google search, such as the name of a judge or other official. Then the criminals get the victims to purchase a pre-paid credit card for hundreds of dollars to clear the warrant they claim they have. Within minutes, the scammers cash in on the cards and rip-off the worried victims.
Don’t fall for these scams and be aware that the court never calls on the phone to solicit money or personal information. Report the crime to law enforcement and spread the word to friends and family.
Top three things to know about warrant scams:
- The court never calls or e-mails people to get personal information such as their social security number. Those who receive these e-mails or call should not respond and are advised to contact the Attorney General’s office.
- A key red flag is the request for money. No official representatives of the court will call to solicit money for any purposes.
- Be wary of phone calls or emails that look like a jury summons and request important personal information, including: date of birth and social security and driver’s license numbers and threatens a fine or prison for failing to respond.
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