A scam gaining popularity again has con artists convincing people they might go to jail.
One of those targeted was Sarah Rabe.
“I was so scared that I was going to be arrested,” she said.
Rabe got this phone call:
“This is Deputy Johnson calling you from the warrants and citation division.”
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The caller said there was a warrant out because she didn’t show up for jury duty and had to pay up.
“If I did not pay, then I would be arrested and detained,” Rabe said.
To avoid arrest, she was directed to transfer $2,500 through a popular payment app. But she later found out the whole thing was a scam.
“When you send money to somebody using one of these apps, a lot of times you can’t get your money back, because … you’re authorizing that transaction,” said Melanie McGovern with the Better Business Bureau.
The FBI put out alerts this year warning that con artists are impersonating officials from a number of agencies, even texting or emailing fake badges to trick potential victims.
“The thing that’s scary about it, is the second you think it’s law enforcement, you’re not really thinking straight,” said McGovern.
McGovern says be suspicious of calls, texts or emails asking for money, especially if they claim to be from law enforcement or a government agency.
“The first thing you want to do is you want to hang up and actually call that agency yourself just to make sure that it’s real,” said McGovern.
“This guy, one he took my money but then he’s trying to target other people too,” said Rabe.
Rabe is sharing her story, hoping to keep others from becoming a victim of this scam.
