Innovative phone scam impersonates deputies
SAN ANTONIO - A local pilot almost gets taken by a costly phone scam. He wants to warn others about scammers posing as the sheriff’s office.
Jaie Avila with the News 4 I-Team reports on a convincing scheme to get your money.
The professional pilot received a pretty believable call on his cell phone saying he'd failed to respond to a court summons and would be detained for hours if he didn't pay up.
“I was on the road traveling for work, and I got a phone call when I was in my hotel room from someone claiming to be with the county sheriff's office, he claimed his name was Lt. Harris," said Jason Powell, who received the call.
Powell is on the road so much he says it seemed possible he could have overlooked a court summons. The person on the phone knew his address and other details and sounded legit.
“The judge has issued a warrant for your arrest and a fine, but he's going to waive all this, so you just need to come into the sheriff's office to work this out, it will take about eight to twelve hours of processing where you'll be detained."
Powell was told he could avoid all that by simply using an app to pay $890, then he could take the receipt to a sheriff's office there in Denver.
When Powell hesitated, the caller turned up the pressure by threatening to send a patrol car.
“I'm in a hotel full of other coworkers, I can't get arrested in front of my other coworkers," Powell said.
Powell says he wanted to call the Bexar County Sheriff's Office to check the guy's story, but the caller told him he had to stay on the line or face arrest.
Fortunately, Powell was able to get a message to his wife, who called and confirmed it was a scam.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office told us it will never call asking for payment to avoid arrest.
"Unfortunately, scammers create new and innovative methods to scam victims, will use names of individuals employed by the BCSO in order to create fear for the victim, and even use a phone app that makes it appear that the number is a BCSO number found online," the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“This information needs to get out, because the sheriff's aware this is happening and that these people are out there, we just want to make sure other people are aware," Powell said.
The sheriff's office says if you receive a call from someone claiming to be with their office demanding payment, you should immediately call the dispatch line at (210) 335-6000.