Residents of Weld County should be aware of a phone scam regarding fictitious arrest warrants, which could bilk victims out of hundreds of dollars, the district attorney’s office warned Wednesday.
As part of the scam, the caller claims to be a law enforcement officer or county official who is making contact about failure to comply with a jury summons, according to a Weld County District Attorney’s Office news release.
To avoid arrest, the scammers tell residents to get a Green Dot MoneyPak Voucher, which can be obtained at CVS, Walmart or King Soopers and put money into the voucher, typically $895, DA’s office said.
“The caller instructs the residents to make a payment to them in order to postpone the warrant,” the DA’s office said. The perpetrator creates a “sense of urgency,” telling victims they only have a few hours to derail an impending warrant.
The caller sometimes passes on a bogus police badge number as part of the scam. Weld County officials and law enforcement officers do not call residents by phone, or contact them by e-mail, for such a purpose.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or
