Scammers are getting smarter.
Fraudulent criminals have figured out how to fool the public into believing they are law enforcement using a new technique involving fake answering machine messages for when you call them.
The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas has recently been alerted to numerous scam calls where the caller impersonates officers from their department. The newest scheme involves setting the voicemail of fake numbers to sound like they come from the sheriff’s office. So if you call them back, it sounds like you called the Sheriff’s office.
Voicemail Scheme Reported By Sheriff’s Office
Scammers have gone as far as to mimic high-ranking officials like Chief Deputy Wooley and Lieutenant Dixon, using spoofed phone numbers. According to officials:
“The scammers have even put a fake FCSO voicemail on that number. Please do not fall victim to these scams.”
Victims reported receiving calls from a number with a fake Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office voicemail attached, increasing the scam’s credibility.
Sheriff’s Office Clarification: Authorities emphasize that they never initiate calls to demand money or personal information over the phone.
Residents are urged to verify any suspicious calls by directly contacting the Sheriff’s Office at 501-450-4914 or the non-emergency line at 501-328-5906.
November 24, 2024 6:50 pm
This isn’t new, at all! I’ve been receiving these calls for over a year, maybe two. The main name I’ve heard is “Bob” with the sheriff’s office If you try to engage in the conversation, they’ll tell you that they haven’t had much “luck” with people mailing in their donations. They then tell you they can take your information so you can go ahead and donate. It has always been a call from Faulkner County. I simply don’t answer calls that I don’t know.
November 24, 2024 11:57 pm
I was called by the district court for jury duty. I happened to be out of town when the notice was mailed to me. When I returned I called the number given on the notice. I was past my time to show up for jury duty. I contacted another number on the notice and re-scheduled my jury duty.
Several weeks or months later I received a call from a deputy that told me I hadn’t shown up for jury duty. He still had the first notice and not the re-scheduled jury duty date. We played phone tag for several days before I was able to discern from the call what his name and rank was to verify if it was a legitimate call.
He wasn’t very happy that I seemed to be dodging him on the phone calls.
When I don’t have a number in my contacts list it goes straight to voice mail.
Once I was able to verify that he was a legitimate officer of the court I was able to find and give him proof of my serving jury duty.