Scammer pretending to be retired DeKalb County sheriff’s sergeant targets area residents

DeKALB – The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office is warning area residents to not give out financial information over the phone, even if the call appears to be coming from the sheriff’s office, as a reported scam involving someone pretending to be a retired sheriff’s sergeant makes its rounds.

“So we’ve had a couple complaints that someone has contacted them via telephone and claiming to be a sergeant from the Sheriff’s office,” DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said.

The telephone scammers claim they’re a sheriff’s office sergeant serving a civil process order, or court summons, and will threaten arrest or a warrant, according to the sheriff’s office. The scammers then try to solicit personal and financial information.

“So the fact is that we would never do that,” Sullivan said.

According to a Facebook post made by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Thursday, several of the reports the office has received about the telephone scam have said the phone number appeared to be the same number associated with the sheriff’s office, confusing potential victims.

“Rest assured, if we have civil process paperwork or a warrant for your arrest, we will come to you. We will never call you and ask for financial information over the phone to satisfy either of these issues,” the post said.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office post said the individuals committing the scam “are using the name of a sergeant who has been retired for some time now,” in hopes of duping their victims into giving out personal information.

“So we wouldn’t solicit anything over the phone, that would not be anything that we would ever do,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said the practice of scammers creating misleading caller identifiers has happened over the past couple of years. When sheriff’s deputies follow up, they find the scammer numbers are not traceable. Sullivan said that means it’s not a real telephone number.

Residents should not provide any information and are urged to hang up immediately if a call resembling this scam is received, cautions the sheriff’s office.

“I would not give any financial information over the phone,” Sullivan said. He also encouraged DeKalb residents to make a report to the sheriff’s office, or their local police department, if a call they’ve received sounds suspicious.

“If you have already received one of these calls and feel your financial or personal information has been compromised, call your local police department to make a report,” the post said.