The Denton County Sheriff's Office says it will never phone a resident and ask for immediate payment to head off an arrest. That reminder follows two reports last week from Denton residents who said callers posing as law officers took their money.
The Denton Record-Chronicle reported that both cases reached Denton police on Thursday, Oct. 1.
A nine-hour call
In one, a woman said a man claiming to be with the sheriff's office called her personal phone at about 1:30 p.m. on a Wednesday, according to her report. He told her she had several warrants for failing to appear for jury duty in federal court and seemed to know a lot about her, which made the call believable, she told police.
The caller warned her not to tell anyone and said she would face another charge if she hung up.
He kept her on the line until about 10:30 p.m., passed her to other people who also claimed to work for the sheriff's office, asked for her Social Security number and pressed her to send money through a Bitcoin machine, adding "processing" fees and new warrants as he went.
She lost $6,800 before she grew suspicious and is working with her bank to freeze the transfers.
