February 28, 2017
TELEPHONE SCAMMERS ARE AT IT AGAIN!
Investigators with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office are receiving complaints of telephone scams with the scammers claiming to be deputies with the Sheriff’s Office. According to Investigators, after getting the victims on the telephone the scammers tell the victims that they failed to report for jury duty and a bench warrant has been issued for their arrest. The victims are then told that in order to avoid arrest and prosecution they can go to a local store and transfer $500.00 on to prepaid gift cards and then provide the caller with the card numbers. They are then instructed to report to the Florence County Courthouse or the Florence County Detention Center to turn in the cards to a specific person. The victims are told by the scammer not to report the transaction to family members or their spouses. The caller ID may indicate that the call is from a number in the 843 area code, but it is from a computer phone that is likely located out of the country. The caller may even have a southern accent and sound very pleasant.
Of course, the entire thing is a scam solely designed to separate you from your money. If there is an outstanding bench warrant for you from the court, you will not get a phone call from us, but a knock on the door. Further, FCSO is not a collection agency for the court or anyone else. And we will NEVER instruct you to pay a fine by way of a prepaid gift or credit card! Feel free to just hang up.
This is not a new ploy but an ongoing one, and unfortunately we continue to receive reports from victims who followed the instructions and are now out of their money. Please don’t be a victim of this or any other telephone or internet scam. If you have any questions regarding these scams, please contact Investigators at (843) 665-2121, ext. 478.
END
Major Michael M. Nunn
General Counsel/P.I.O.
