DAYTON — Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck announced Sept. 18 that there have been several phone call scams that have been circulating throughout the community and he is sending out a warning to residents to be cautious.
There are phone calls being made to residents where the caller presents themselves as “Sergeant Fasion” or “Sergeant Sullivan,” claiming to be from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
The caller tells the resident that they have failed to appear in court or that there was a legal matter that they needed to discuss with the resident.
The caller is then asked to provide a substantial payment or else they would have a warrant out for their arrest. The caller then requests that the payment be made through PayPal, Apple Pay, a money order, or by another method of payment or else they would be arrested.
Fraudulent callers have even been known to clone phone numbers to appear legitimate on the incoming caller ID. Often, the phone number may appear to be coming from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, while in fact, the phone number has been spoofed.
“These scammers can be very convincing and while in hindsight it may be easy to blame the victims, please keep in mind that these ruthless scammers are very successful at targeting people from all walks of life and age groups,” said Sheriff Streck.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office never calls residents and threatens arrest for unpaid fines, warrants, missed court dates, etc. Residents who may receive calls such as these should hang up and report it to their local police department.
