The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office is warning locals about the risk of scam callers and letters posing as law enforcement.
“The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office, Courts, or County will NEVER contact you via phone demanding immediate payment. If you are suspicious, ask for a number to call back,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a news release warning about the risk of scam.
Fraud calls often pose as local law enforcement and call residents claiming they owe a fine or have a warrant for their arrest. The caller then tells their target they can avoid arrest or have the warrant quashed if they pay money.
Scammers often request this payment in the form of gift cards from national store brands, which law enforcement warn is a dead giveaway the call is attempted fraud.
The FBI and U.S. Marshals published a similar warning in March.
“Scammers use many tactics to sound and appear credible. They sometimes provide information like badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officials and federal judges, and courthouse addresses,” the FBI warning said. “They may also spoof their phone numbers to appear on caller IDs as if they are calling from a government agency or the court.”
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office also warns of the risk posed by letters mailed to residents asking them to pay fines with PayPal or cryptocurrency.
Other signs a letter is fake can include generic job titles that make no mention of what government office the person who mailed the letter works for.