BEAUMONT, Texas — Officials are warning the community about phone scammers who are making false statements about warrants and fines.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office says the scammers are calling residents in the Southeast Texas area and threatening them to send money to avoid being arrested due to a missed a court date.
Officials are letting the public know that no law enforcement agency is going to call and ask for money or personal information.
Although the phone number on your caller ID may look similar to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the person calling might not be a deputy or officer.
“Don’t trust your caller ID! Scammers can make any name or number show up on your caller ID. That’s called spoofing. So even if it looks like it’s a government agency like the Social Security Administration calling, or like the call is from a local number, it could be a scammer calling from anywhere in the world,” Crystal Holmes said in a news release.
Here are tips from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to help you recognize a phone scam:
No law enforcement agency will call you asking for money to dispose of a warrant.
- Scammers might pretend to be law enforcement or a federal agency. They might say you’ll be arrested, fined, or deported if you don’t pay taxes or some other debt right away. The goal is to scare you into paying. But real law enforcement and federal agencies won’t call and threaten you. If you feel that you have a warrant, call your local law enforcement agency.
There's never a good reason to send cash or pay with a gift card.
- Scammers will often ask you to pay in a way that makes it hard for you to get your money back. Anyone who asks you to pay by wiring money, putting money on a gift card, prepaid card or cash reload card, or using a money transfer app is a scammer.
Government agencies won’t call you to confirm your sensitive information.
- It’s never a good idea to give out sensitive information like your Social Security number to someone who calls you unexpectedly, even if they say they’re with the Social Security Administration or IRS.
