CINCINNATI (FOX19) – People pretending to be law enforcement officials are calling residents trying to scam them out of money, Brown County detectives warn.
Residents are told they owe money to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office and that they will be arrested if they don’t pay.
“It’s sad to see, because the people who seem to be falling victim to this are some of the kindest, nicest people you’ll ever meet,” Brown County Sheriff’s Sgt. Quinn Carlson said.
Carlson explains the numbers are spoofed to appear local.
“One time it was our sheriff’s office phone number that came up on their phone,” Carlson said.
The sergeant wants to assure residents that the sheriff’s office will never call to say they have a warrant or are about to be arrested if they don’t pay up.
“That is always going to be a scam,” Carlson said. “We also don’t accept money or gift cards or different cards you can buy at stores. That’s also going to be a scam 100 percent of the time.”
A separate scam sees Brown County residents victimized on social media by people overseas gaining the victim’s trust over several months.
“[The scammers] make it seem like they’re romantically involved on this online social media relationship and slowly extract money from [the victim] and their family,” Carlson said. “This has resulted in tens of thousands of dollars, families’ accounts being drained.”
Both scams are more prevalent over the holiday season.
Carlson says he wants…
