Sheriff’s office warns of phone scams

Published 3:00 am Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Residents around the county were getting calls Monday that the Pike County Sheriff’s Office had warrants for their arrests– but officials with the office say it wasn’t them.

“There have been 3 different people that have reported being called and told they had outstanding warrants at the sheriff’s office,” said Sheriff Russell Thomas. “One person actually almost gave the money, but then came by the sheriff’s office and found out it was a scam.”

Thomas said the scammers would call the residents asking for credit card information, or even asking for the intended victims to go to a local store and pick up a gift card and send that information that way.

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“We’ll never ask you to give payment over the phone,” Thomas said. “If anyone gets a call like this, we ask them to report it to us immediately. And if anyone has any questions, they can contact the sheriff’s department directly.”

Thomas said his office will be working with other law enforcement agencies to attempt to find the originators of the scam.

Anyone with information or questions can call the Pike County Sheriff’s Office at 334-566-4347.