CECIL COUNTY — The Cecil County Sheriff’s Office alerted the public earlier this week about a phone scam in which scammers reportedly have been targeting people who failed to report to jury duty and who have active warrants.
“The Cecil County Sheriff’s Office Deputies ARE NOT REACHING out to those that may have missed jury duty. We do not solicit payments from people to take care of warrants. Please share this to help stop the scammers,” reads the message that CCSO officials posted on its Facebook page on Tuesday.
The phone scam is similar to others that have been reported to Cecil County authorities in the past.
Last month, for example, CCSO and Elkton Police Department officials alerted the public about phone scams in which the perpetrators reportedly posed as actual — and fictional — officers representing the departments while informing people on the other end of the line that must pay a fine or go to jail.
In the scam relating to the CCSO, the caller reportedly pretended to be Capt. William Snyder — not a real person — when telling citizens that they must surrender themselves to the agency due to an outstanding warrant or pay a fine over the phone to avoid going to jail, police reported.
“Please do not fall for this scam. If you have warrants for your arrest, we will do our best to meet you in person. Also, there is currently no Captain William Snyder ID#1032 employed with the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office,” a CCSO spokesperson outlined in an alert that department officials posted on the agency’s Facebook page in June.
The scam relating to the EPD, meanwhile, was similar, except the caller reportedly had been using the name of a real officer — Lt. David Confer, who has served with that municipal police force for many years.
“It has been brought to our attention that people in our community are receiving phone calls or text messages from a scammer claiming to be Lt. David Confer of the Elkton Police Department. The phone number that appears in caller ID is actually the phone number for our police department. Scammers are able to clone phone numbers, then they go to a police department’s website and find names of command and use that name to make it look like a legitimate. It is not,” an EPD spokesperson explained on a social media site in June.
The EPD spokesperson then provided the following advice on how to deal with the imposter along with additional information: “Hang up or don’t respond to the text. PLEASE NOTE: A legitimate police officer will NEVER ask for money from you to clear up any warrant or tickets. The person is lying to you. Do not give any money to these people. Do no share your personal or banking information with these thieves. If you are a victim of this scam please file a police report and notify your bank immediately.”
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