BOSTON — Residents beware. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department is warning citizens of a telephone scam.
As a part of the scam, the caller claims to be a Suffolk County Sheriff's Deputy and tells the victim of a false charge.
Some of the reported false charges include:
- The call recipient's failure to report for either jury duty or a grand jury, and false claims that they are subject to arrest and possible imprisonment unless they pay a fine to settle the matter
- There is a complaint against them and the caller wants to come and meet them at their home or place of business.
Authorities say the victim is then told to buy a prepaid credit card from their local drugstore. The victims are then told to provide the card number to the scammer over the phone. In one case, the caller told the victim to bring the cards to the JFK Federal Building at One Courthouse Plaza.
In past scams over the years, victims have reportedly been told to deliver the cards in person to what is the official address of the Civil Process Division at 132 Portland Street in an effort to convince the victim that the caller is an official representative of the Division or Department.
"We want to warn citizens that these are most definitely scams and urge them to take the proper precautions against this individual or individuals. We do not make these types of calls nor do we ever demand money over the phone as a way to avoid arrest, and our office would have already had contact with the recipients by way of process service well before they would ever be subject to a civil arrest. Finally, any financial transactions that we do are performed inside the Civil Process Division at 132 Portland Street, not over the phone or on the street."
- Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins
If you receive a phone call like this, you should never give out your personal information, and immediately report it to local law enforcement. The Department also asks that you call The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department's Investigative Division at (617)704-6544.