MANSFIELD — The scammers are alive and well and bothering the good people of Richland County — again.
On Monday morning, the Richland County Sheriff’s office sent out a press release acknowledging that citizens within and surrounding the county have been receiving calls from a scammer identifying themselves as a law enforcement officer from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.
“The scammer advises the citizen that they have warrants out on them, or they missed a court date or other law enforcement or court business,” Sheriff Steve Sheldon said in a press release.
“They tell the citizen that they need to pay a fine and then gives the citizen procedures to pay the fine to make the situation go away.”
The scammer may use a spoofing method to make the call appear to come from the Sheriff’s Office or use a name of a Sheriff’s Office employee.
Sheldon noted that the Sheriff’s Office will never ask citizens for monies over the phone to pay for anything.
All money transactions for services, (example: CCW fees, Background checks and Sheriff’s Sales) are handled at the Sheriff’s Office.
“These scams are common throughout the United States and residents should hang up and ignore these calls,” Sheldon said.