Officials at the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office are warning residents about the most recent scam going around.
In a recent news release, officials said for at least a week, a person claiming to be an employee at the office’s “sex offender registry” has been calling residents and demanding they bring $1,000 to the jail to clear warrants for the resident’s arrest.
The scammer uses an actual sheriff office employee’s name.
Other than maintaining there is no “sex offender registry” at the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office, spokespeople from the office also said, “we would never demand a cash payment over the phone.”
This is just the latest example of scammers using the sheriff’s office’s name in an effort to coax people out of cash over the phone.
Earlier this year it was the “jury duty scam,” and before that, scammers were leaving voicemails claiming residents had “pending charges against them” if they didn’t call back to pay a fine.
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Deanna Leblanc, a spokeswoman for the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office, said the agency values their partners at the Norfolk Police Department who are working to investigate and put a stop to these calls.
“The men and women of the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office work hard everyday to build a trusting relationship with our citizens, and it is extremely disappointing when our name is used under false pretenses to cause financial harm to one of our citizens,” she said.
Should residents get a call demanding money, the sheriff’s office said to hang up and call the police department’s Economic Crimes Unit at 757-664-7018.
