January 3, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray is warning residents about a phone scam where callers are posing as law enforcement officers and asking would be victims to pay a fine.
The scammers have already tried to prey on would be victims locally.
According to Sheriff Ray, in some cases the caller has identified himself as Lieutenant Lance Watson or Lance White of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department. He tells them that their conversations are being recorded and that they are to write down what he says to them. The man tells his would be victims that they have citations against them and that they owe fines. He warns that their case has been entered into a National Crime Information Center Database and that if they don’t obtain a prepaid card to pay their fines, he will have them arrested. The scammer even goes so far as to give phone numbers to the Civil Citations Criminal Warrants Division where the would be victims can get more information. But when they call, a recording instructs the would be victims to give their name, phone number, and a brief detailed message after which a deputy will return the calls.
Sheriff Ray warns you not to fall for this scam. He says there is no one working for the sheriff’s department by the name Lance Watson or Lance White and that the Sheriff’s Office does not make calls in this manner to anyone.
Remember if you have a prepaid card, don’t give the numbers from that card to a stranger because if it is a scam, your money is gone.
Sheriff Ray said the scammers are not easy to trace because they are most likely using burner phones.
If you have been victim of a scam contact the Sheriff’s Department.