Residents of Contra Costa County should be on high alert for a wave of deceptive phone calls posing as communications from the Sheriff's Office. According to a public service announcement on the Contra Costa County Sheriff's official social media channels, scammers have been reaching out to citizens, falsely claiming they have outstanding arrest warrants. These impersonators insist that a payment is necessary to evade arrest. This scam has become prevalent enough to warrant concern amongst law enforcement and the community.

The fraudulent calls involve a person alleging to represent the "Sheriff's Office," utilizing the name of an actual employee to legitimize their claim. The Sheriff's Office wants to clarify that their protocol does not include soliciting fines or fee payments over the phone, especially not through reloadable prepaid cards. As the Sheriff's Office warned, "THIS IS A SCAM." The strategy of mentioning specific employee names or phone numbers and referencing legal statutes is aimed at exploiting the trust of unsuspecting individuals.

Victims of such schemes are becoming more common, with many already being manipulated by these malicious phone calls. The advice from the Sheriff's Office is unequivocal: Do not engage with the caller by providing any personal information, and terminate the call immediately. Reporting the incident to local law enforcement is also imperative, allowing authorities to take an official report and potentially track these scams.