Sheriff warns of phone scam targeting local residents

COXSACKIE―The Greene County Sheriff's Office is warning residents of a scam in which the caller claims to be law enforcement and demands payment over the phone for missed jury duty or a warrant.

“We have received several complaints of these attempts recently,” the sheriff’s office reported on Monday.

The scammers are able to “spoof” a phone number so it appears to being coming from a legitimate police agency, the sheriff’s office pointed out. The sheriff’s office also reminded residents that they would never ask for any payment to be made via gift cards.

Anyone who has received one of these calls is urged to hang up and contact the sheriff’s office at 518-943-3300.

The scheme has become all too common around the country.

In April, State Police in Delaware County arrested a man from India following an investigation into a similar fraud scheme that targeted a victim and resulted in a loss exceeding $200,000.

Law enforcement agencies will never contact individuals by phone demanding money or threatening arrest, police say.  Any such calls are fraudulent.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is also warning of a new twist on the scam in which would-be victims are told to visit a website.

“They send you to a site that looks legitimate, with an official-sounding URL and government-looking seals (all fake). It’ll ask you to enter your birthdate and Social Security number to “look up how much you owe.” It might ask you to pay up to $10,000 in fines on the site or send you to a ‘government kiosk’ (no such thing) to pay by cryptocurrency. But every bit of this is a scam,” the FTC explained.

As per the FTC, real law enforcement officers won’t call to say you’ll be arrested or threaten to arrest you if you hang up. Even if the caller ID looks like it’s coming from your local police department. And only scammers say you can only pay with cash, gift cards, a payment app, cryptocurrency, or a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram.

According to State Police:

Red flags include:

•    Urgent threats of arrest if payment is not made

•    Request for payment using cash, gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency

•    Caller ID spoofing to appear as police department or government office

•    Repeated calls or instructions to stay on the phone while making payment or going to the bank

•    Telling the victim not to tell anyone else

What you should do:

•    Hang up immediately

•    Do not provide personal or financial information

•    Do not send money or purchase gift cards

•    Contact your local police department

Protect older family members:

•    Talk openly about common scams and warning signs

•    Encourage them to verify any claim before acting

•    Remind them that legitimate agencies do not demand immediate payment

•    Set up safeguards such as call screening or fraud alerts