On Friday, November 8th, a citizen came to the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office to report fraud. The victim was contacted by phone by a man claiming to be a Captain Donald Croft with the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office. This man told the victim they had missed a court date for Jury duty. The caller had the victim’s address and date of birth and texted the victim saying there was a $500 dollar fine for each day of missed jury duty. The text also included “Alleviation Voucher Locations”, that were at Albertsons, Winco and Rosauers.
The man also forwarded the victim a false document with information on dismissing federal warrants. There was a false FBI email on the document. The victim told the man they were going to go to the Sheriff’s Office. The man attempted to keep them on the phone but was unsuccessful. The Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office would like remind the public not to fall for these types of scams. No Law Enforcement entity will ever call you and ask for money over the phone. There is also no way, other than arrest, court appearance or a Judge’s ruling, for a warrant to be quashed. The Sheriff’s Office is also reminding the public that scammers can clone phone numbers, so it will appear that you are receiving a call from a law enforcement entity, when it is actually just a scammer. DO NOT give any personal information out over the phone unless you are absolutely sure of who you are talking to.
If you start receiving many phone and email scams, one possibility is that there was a data breach at a company somewhere and your information has been sold on the web. Authorities say a good practice to have is to check your credit report often and look for anything out of the ordinary.
