Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Carter County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) is alerting residents to a phone scam in which scammers impersonate CCSO officers and demand money to “clear up” outstanding warrants.

Several residents have reported receiving suspicious calls from individuals claiming to be CCSO officers, providing the names of actual officers and giving “badge numbers” for identification. The callers inform the person of an alleged warrant for their arrest, often related to missed jury duty or a court appearance, and claim that paying a “fee” will resolve the issue. Fees have ranged from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

Scammers have requested payments through online payment apps such as CashApp, Venmo, or PayPal, bank withdrawals, or by purchasing gift cards, MoneyPak cards, or pre-paid credit cards. Some have even instructed victims to use a Bitcoin ATM.

“The Carter County Sheriff’s Office will never call anyone and ask for money in exchange for taking care of an outstanding warrant,” said Carter County Sheriff Mike Fraley. “No law enforcement agency will do that.”

Reports indicate that scammers have been using the names of actual CCSO officers to lend credibility to their calls. In some cases, the scammers also have personal information, such as dates of birth or Social Security numbers, to make their calls appear legitimate.

“These scammers are using the names of our officers to try to give credibility to their scam,” Sheriff Fraley added. “In one case, the scammer even impersonated me to try to defraud a victim.”

Residents who receive such calls are advised to hang up immediately and not to provide any banking or personal information. The CCSO encourages anyone who has received these calls, even if they have not lost money, to report the incident to law enforcement.