Police in Franklin County are trying to track down a man they say is impersonating a Sheriff’s Deputy and scamming people out of money by threatening to arrest them if they don’t pay him.
The man calls himself Deputy James Marshall and he has been calling people saying that he has a warrant for them, and if they don’t pay him they will be arrested.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
“We’ve seen this before, same type of scam,” Sheriff Pat Melton told LEX 18’s Joe Ducey. “No Deputy Sheriff, police officer, or State Trooper will ever call and say, ‘hey you got a warrant, I need you to bring money.’”
Melton told Ducey that there is no Deputy James Marshall. He also says that these scammers are often targeting the elderly.
“Most of them are on a fixed income and to lose five hundred, or a thousand, or two thousand dollars hurts,” said Melton.
The Sheriff’s Office took to social media to warn people about the scam. On Monday a man lost $2,000 to the fake deputy.
The suspect used a 123 Rewards Card and told the victim to get a recharge card and to give him the card number. By the time the victim realized something wasn’t right, his money was gone.
LEX 18 called the suspect and he answered the phone, but gave no information.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office says that they’ve been able to trace withdrawals from the scammer’s account to South Dakota.
Investigators say he calls people throughout the state.
Melton says the scammer is calling from (502) 395- 2268.
Melton says if he calls to tell him to meet you at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
“No employee of the Sheriffs office should ever ask for money in lieu of a fine to take care of a warrant or anything else. Thats only done by a judge or a circuit court, they’re the only ones that handle money,” said Melton.
