Scammers are lighting up phones in Pinellas County, leaving calls and voicemails that threaten arrest or demand instant payment for bogus warrants and citations, according to local law enforcement. The callers pressure people to move fast, steering them toward money-transfer apps, gift cards, or cryptocurrency to make the supposed legal trouble disappear.
In a March 10 Facebook post, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said the callers are dropping the name of Assistant Chief Deputy Paul Carey, then sometimes leaving callback numbers that do not belong to the agency. Residents were urged to double check any number before returning a call, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. For anyone who wants to make sure a call is real, the sheriff's non-emergency line is 727-582-6200, per the office's contact information (Pinellas County Sheriff's Office).
Deputy Geoff Moore, the agency's media-relations deputy, told FOX 13 that the scammers often push victims to move money through Zelle or Cash App, or to read gift card numbers over the phone, then tack on extra "processing" fees. Moore said the Economic Crimes Unit is on the case after a resident reported a suspicious voicemail that raised red flags.
How the scam works
According to past advisories from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, these operations are not new. Scammers routinely pretend to be deputies or court officials, claim you missed jury duty or failed to pay a citation, then threaten arrest if you do not pay up fast. The script usually ends with instructions to buy prepaid cards or send cryptocurrency to clear the so-called problem, per the sheriff's office.
Officials stress that real courts and legitimate law-enforcement agencies do not demand payment over the phone or insist on specific payment methods. If someone is insisting you solve your legal issues with a gift card, that is a strong sign the only crime in play is the one targeting your wallet.
How to protect yourself
If a caller demands immediate payment, hang up. Do not call back the number they leave on your voicemail until you have verified it on your own. Never pay with gift cards, cryptocurrency, or peer-to-peer payment apps in response to a threatening call, since those methods are classic red flags, according to the AARP Fraud Watch Network.
If the call involves a court date, missed jury duty, or an unpaid citation, those issues are handled by the Clerk of the Circuit Court. The clerk's main office is at 315 Court Street in Clearwater and can be reached at 727-464-7000 (Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court).
If you were targeted or lost money, law enforcement wants to hear from you. File a report with your local agency, then share details with consumer trackers so investigators can spot wider patterns. Residents are encouraged to submit information to the Better Business Bureau's Scam Tracker and other national reporting portals to help build cases against organized rings (BBB Scam Tracker).
Local officials say the best defense is to slow things down, verify every phone number independently, and call the sheriff's office directly if there is any question about a supposed warrant or citation.
