The Sheriff's Office wants everyone to be aware of impersonators claiming to work for the Sheriff's Office to get victims to provide personal identifiers such as social security numbers or convince victims to pay for a fine or warrant. These people are scammers and often use legitimate names and ranks of police officers or sheriff deputies to gain the victim's trust.
Sometimes scams such as these will claim that the victim owes money, and a warrant will be issued for their arrest if they do not pay, or they may report to jail. Be aware that this is an attempt to convince the victim or scare them into paying the demands.
Examples of forms of payment scammers might use to steal your money are credit card information over the phone, wire the money, or pay in the form of a gift card.
The impersonator may also ask for your social security number, date of birth, or other personal information. Impersonators may use your information to open credit accounts and fraud victims of several thousand dollars and destroy a person's credit.
Keep yourself and your financials safe:
The Sheriff’s Office will never call individuals and demand money under any circumstance.
The impersonators may attempt to instill fear and coerce their victims to give in to their demands.
We will never call individuals demanding payment for fines or warrants.
We will never ask individuals for personal identifiers or financial information such as social security numbers, bank account numbers, or credit card information.
Tips to help avoid becoming a victim of a scam include:
Never divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers.
Be suspicious of any caller demanding immediate payment for any reason.
If you suspect the caller is an impersonator of any law enforcement officer, hang up and verify the information by calling that agency.
Never wire money or provide bank account or credit card information to a stranger.
You can remain anonymous when you report.
If you suspect you may owe a debt or a court-imposed financial obligation, contact that court directly to verify the obligation and to receive information on how to resolve the matter safely.
During any call you suspect may be a scam or from a person you suspect is an impersonator, HANG UP and report it to your local police department or the FBI Office. You can also visit the Utah Department of Commerce Division of Consumer Protection or usa.gov for more information on common scams and fraud and how to protect yourself from becoming a victim.