CEDAR CITY — The Iron County Sheriff’s Office is warning area residents about a phone scam where the caller is posing as a law enforcement officer and telling the intended victim that they owe money for an outstanding warrant.
According to the statement released by the Sheriff’s Office, on Tuesday several people living within Iron County received a phone call from an individual claiming to be a Sergeant, Lieutenant or other law enforcement official from the Iron County Sheriff’s Office.
The scammer was calling from a local phone number of 435-201-1307 and advising the intended victim they had a warrant from the Iron County Justice Court and if they did not send money they would come to their home and arrest them.
The caller told the intended victim’s they had failed to appear in court and requested they pay the $400-$600 using only a Green Saver Cash card (Green Dot) which is a type of pre-paid credit card that can be purchased at a retail store.
Some of the people called were aware of this type of scam and ended the conversation prior to sending any money. During those calls the threat of arrest was used several times.
One person obtained the requested card and wanted to give the caller the card in person. The caller told that person that he was located at 213 North Main and then gave another person the address of 2132 North Main, which is the Sheriff’s Office address. None of the persons called provided money to the caller, the statement said.
The Sheriff’s Office is advising citizens that they will not call you about a criminal warrant and will not request a cash card, debit card, or any other form of payment over the phone. Warrants are paid in exact cash amounts, in person at the Iron County Correctional Facility or the Iron County Justice Court only.
If you have paid money to someone as a result of this scam, please contact your local law enforcement agency to make a report. You can call the Iron County Sheriff’s Office at 435-867-7500 or police dispatch at 435-867-7550.
How to protect yourself
- Consumer frauds and scams
- Moneypak-protect your money
- Utah Division of Consumer Protection
- FBI scams-safety
- Utah Depatment of Public Safety
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Glad you raised this. I didn’t know such a scam is happening. That’s terrible, using the police to perpetrate the scam. Do you have a list of the phone numbers reportedly used in this scam so I can block them ahead? I’ve learned from the posts at http://www.callercenter.com that scammers usually use several phone numbers to call people and trick them into disclosing bank information.