By Bryant Thigpen
Riverbend News
A resident in Madison County was recently scammed by an unidentified suspect acting as law enforcement and asking for money to bail out a person familiar to the victim. Live Oak Police Department Detective (LOPD) Brad Harrison urges residents to confirm the claims with local law enforcement before submitting a payment to anyone.
“When it comes to any sort of payments by phone, local law enforcement does not seek payments over the phone,” said Harrison. “Any sort of entity that is claiming to be local law enforcement, state or the federal government and claims to be seeking funds for various reasons is a scam.”
Harrison noted that the LOPD has experienced different scams over the last two years, including individuals who claim to be from a government entity such as social security or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), demanding a certain amount of money.
“When these actions are occurring, most of the time they request to be paid with a prepaid card, and that should throw up a red flag,” he said. “The reason they want to be paid using prepaid cards is because they are hard to trace.”
Harrison also noted a scam where the victim was told they would receive a check just to confirm their bank account is valid, and the victim was told to send the money back in the form of a prepaid card.
“The check they deposited into the person’s account was a fraudulent check, and now the victim is out of those funds and they’ve just given a prepaid card to the suspect,” he said.
In Madison County, a Madison County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) deputy responded to the residence of the scam victim after it was advised that the victim received a phone call from "Deputy Thomas," who was calling from a private number. The victim was informed by the subject that an employee of the victim's business had been arrested and needed $2,000 bail money, which was to be paid in Green Dot Cards.
"Thomas told [the victim] the bond had to be paid in Green Dot Cards and that she would need to purchase two $500 Green Dot Cards from two different store locations for a total of $2,000," the report stated, which added that "Deputy Thomas" remained on the phone with the victim while the cards were purchased.
The scammer informed the victim to "read the numbers off the cards so scammers couldn't get the numbers," and after the card numbers were read to "Deputy Thomas," the victim was told they would hear from the alleged arrestee in four to six hours.
The conversation and exchange was done over the phone and at this time, MCSO does not have a suspect or person of interest. The victim reported that "Deputy Thomas" was always aware of her location during the incident and appeared to have access to the victim's personal information.
Citizens should not reveal personal information and/or make payments to anyone without consulting with local law enforcement officials in an attempt to ensure the validity of the request or claim.
If anyone suspectys they have been scammed, residents are encouraged to call the Live Oak Police Department at (386) 362-7463 or the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office at (386) 362-2222. Hamilton County residents may contact the Jasper Police Department at (386) 792-1130, the Jennings Police Department at (386) 938-4131, or the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office at (386) 792-1001. Lafayette County residents may contact the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office at (386) 294-1222.