Watch out for these scammers impersonating Muscogee County deputies over the phone

Alleged scammers are impersonating Muscogee deputies on telephone calls and demanding money from residents.

The Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office warned in a news release Wednesday that the scammers tell their intended targets that they have an outstanding warrant.

To have the warrant dismissed, the targets are told to send money using a prepaid card. The scammers then tell the targets that if they don’t send the cards, they will be arrested.

The scammers tell targets to purchase the cards from local stores. Then, targets are asked to provide the card and PIN numbers. The money is transferred off the card into several different accounts.

The calls come from numbers with local area codes, and the scammers use false agency titles when speaking to targets. When targets call the number back, an automated answering machine directs them to phone extensions which are then answered by the scammers.

Several residents have reported the scam. The Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office said in the release that members of the agency do not contact people with outstanding warrants over the phone, and the agency never demands money over the phone to resolve a warrant.

If you’ve received a call like this, please contact the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, Criminal Investigative Division at 706-653-4235.

This story was originally published May 8, 2019 at 12:46 PM.