A person is calling people in the county claiming to be a deputy with the Mesa County Sheriff's Office. They are using several names, some made up, some of actual deputies. A REAL deputy would NEVER call you to inform you of a warrant out for your arrest. We would just come and arrest you.
There are two versions of this phone scam hitting the Valley, one the scammer tells the intended victim that they have a warrant for their arrest, the second they are told they missed jury duty and have a summons.
In both cases they are told if they don't take care of the citation by paying money over the phone they will come and arrested them.
The scammer tells them they need to get a Green Dot prepaid cash card for a large sum of money and then call a (970) phone number and give them the number on the card.When you call the number back there is a voice recording saying,"You've reached the Mesa County Sheriff's Department..."
In both cases they are told if they don't take care of the citation by paying money over the phone they will come and arrested them.
The scammer tells them they need to get a Green Dot prepaid cash card for a large sum of money and then call a (970) phone number and give them the number on the card.When you call the number back there is a voice recording saying,"You've reached the Mesa County Sheriff's Department..."
Why people fall victim
It sounds convincing to people because the scammers ask the victims to go to the Sheriff's Office to pay the warrant. Sounds real right? However, BEFORE you go, they ask for the numbers on the PREPAID CARD, to verify you actually did what they said. Well, the TRUTH is all they need are those number to STEAL your money. They don't need the cards, or you to come down the Sheriff's Office. So when you show up to the Sheriff's Office ready to pay.....the scammers already emptied the money from the cards from the far off country they are located in.
The scammer has a lot of details, like asking them to come down to the Sheriff's Office, judges' names, courtroom numbers, citation numbers, even background music to sound convincing, but it is all a FALSE.
THIS IS A SCAM.
The Mesa County Sheriff's Office or the Mesa County court system would NEVER contact you by phone and demand money. Anyone who does have an actual warrant for their arrest would be contacted in person.
If someone calls you and asked to be paid buy a PREPAID CARD they are LYING to you. No REAL business or government agency asked people to go to a store to buy something to get paid. We all use good old cash or check.
Remember it's the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, NOT Department and the REAL phone number is (970) 244-3500.
If ever you are contacted and not sure of the caller's legitimacy call the company or Sheriff's Office yourself. Not the phone number they give you, but the one you look up yourself. The Mesa County Sheriff's Office or any other company the scammer is pretending to be will be happy to verify the information for you.
The scammer has a lot of details, like asking them to come down to the Sheriff's Office, judges' names, courtroom numbers, citation numbers, even background music to sound convincing, but it is all a FALSE.
THIS IS A SCAM.
The Mesa County Sheriff's Office or the Mesa County court system would NEVER contact you by phone and demand money. Anyone who does have an actual warrant for their arrest would be contacted in person.
If someone calls you and asked to be paid buy a PREPAID CARD they are LYING to you. No REAL business or government agency asked people to go to a store to buy something to get paid. We all use good old cash or check.
Remember it's the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, NOT Department and the REAL phone number is (970) 244-3500.
If ever you are contacted and not sure of the caller's legitimacy call the company or Sheriff's Office yourself. Not the phone number they give you, but the one you look up yourself. The Mesa County Sheriff's Office or any other company the scammer is pretending to be will be happy to verify the information for you.
