MEDIA ADVISORY ALERT!!! Variety of Scam Calls Impersonate Sheriff’s to Demand Payment from Citizens

DO NOT SEND MONEY TO ANYONE CALLING CLAIMING TO BE THE SHERIFF

Variety of Scam Calls Impersonate Sheriff’s to Demand Payment from Citizens

Upper Marlboro, MD…The Prince George’s County Sheriff is notifying citizens again today, through all media sources and outlets about another series of scam telephone calls being made to citizens and residents, demanding money and claiming to represent the Office of the Sheriff.

The Sheriff’s Office was notified of the most recent set of calls on Thursday when citizens called to verify whether they had outstanding warrants. On the call, residents have been told that the caller represented the U.S. Marshall Service, that the Sheriff had an outstanding warrant for their arrest, and that they would be arrested unless they wired money to the caller.

In another scam call, the scammer claimed to be “Investigator Randy Mass” from the Greenbelt Courthouse who was calling to notify the citizen that they had failed to show up for jury duty and had to pay a fine of nearly $900.00 to avoid further action. The scammer had the citizen call to verify the information with a so-called “Captain Bryan Riggs” who verified what the original scammer had told the citizen. They were instructed to put money on a pre-paid card and put it in the mail to an address provided by the scammer.

In at least one case, the scammer had used a technology application to make the caller ID show up as the main number in the Sheriff’s Office.

“We want to notify our residents again that neither the Sheriff or any other law enforcement agency makes phone calls demanding payment, period, “ said Chief Assistant Sheriff Darrin Palmer. “There are absolutely no circumstances under which any of our residents should give, wire or mail funds to anyone who calls saying anything like this. These are predators, pure and simple, scams.”

Previous scams have included calls saying a citizen had failed to show up in court for a red light camera ticket, or they failed to appear in court, or they were calling from the IRS on Sheriff High’s behalf. None of these is true and would simply not occur.

“We urge citizens who get these calls to call our office immediately, if for nothing more than reassurance, “said Colonel Palmer.

For more information contact the Communications and Public Affairs Division at 301-780-7354 

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