Scammers have tried two novel approaches in Jefferson County: posing as cops or court officials to collect information and then demand money, the Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.
Last week, a caller to an auto-repair business pretended to be a Jefferson County Sheriff’s investigator working on a case about identity theft.
The caller convinced the garage to provide the names of three people with the largest unpaid bills.
The scammer then called those people and pretended to be from the garage, offering to settle the debts at a discount if the customer would provide a credit card number over the phone.
“None of the customers accepted the offer,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a media release today.
Also in the past week, a woman said she was called by a person claiming to be a Jefferson County court official who needed personal information from the woman in order to send a summons for jury duty.
“The citizen provided all of her personal identifying information, only later to find out that the courts never place phone calls requesting this type of information,” according to the Sheriff’s Department.
No arrests have been made.
Anyone with information about the scams can call the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department tip line at 303-271-5612.
