Richmond City Sheriff’s Office warns residents of scam posing as deputies

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Richmond City Sheriff's Office is warning residents of a scam involving callers pretending to be deputies from local law enforcement and threatening victims with prosecutions.

The sheriff's office wants to remind residents of ongoing scams through phone calls, emails and text messages where someone pretends to be a deputy from a local agency and threatens victims with prosecution.

According to the sheriff's office, a deputy will never call to alert residents of a missed jury duty, failure to report to court or notify them of an arrest warrant by phone.

In addition, no law enforcement agency will ask for confidential information like address, date of birth, bank account information or social security number over the phone.

The sheriff's office warns residents to immediately hang up if they experience the following types of scam scenarios:

• In one scenario, the caller identifies themself as an officer of the court or deputy, saying that you have failed to report to jury duty and that there's a warrant out for your arrest. Meanwhile, the caller will ask you to identify your information for verification by phone -- no officer or deputy will ask you to verify yourself by phone. The caller then proceeds to ask you to meet them at different sites with cash or gift cards, instead of being arrested.
• In another scenario, the caller will tell victims there is a capias out for their arrest and that they must pay a fine or fees to not be arrested.

The following are a few ways to identify a scammer:

• Unsolicited requests for personal information or money
• Asking for a payment for jury duty or a warrant
• Unsolicited texts and emails pressuring victims to respond
• Using scare tactics to coerce victims to do what they want

The Richmond City Sheriff's Office recommends contacting local law enforcement before providing any information over the phone.