CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Police in Cumberland County are warning residents of a scam in which fraudsters pose as a Cumberland County Sheriff's Deputy and demand payment for fake warrants.
The North Middleton Township Police Department (NMTPD) says a resident received a call around 9 a.m. on Saturday from a man who identified himself as a county sheriff's deputy. The scammer told the victim that he had failed to show up for a Federal Grand Jury selection and there is an active warrant for his arrest.
The fraudster sent the victim fake warrant paperwork via email. Those documents, along with false documents from the Office Of Inspector General and false FDIC information that their deposits were FDIC insured, can be seen here to get familiar with false records.
The poser instructed the victim to deposit $1,500 into a Bitcoin machine to pay his bail for the offense and gave him the numbers to send the deposit to.
Another scammer who identified themselves as a "sergeant" then told the victim he needed to deposit more funds into a separate Bitcoin machine at another location, because the first deposit was only for the state warrant, and now he needed to pay the bail for the federal warrant. The victim deposited an additional $2,300.
Officers say the "deputy," "sergeant" and a "captain" kept the victim on the telephone the whole time, and they were aggressive about telling him that if he did not do as they instructed, they were going to ping his phone and come get him.
While still on the phone with the fraudsters, the victim came to the NMTPD. Police say after the "sergeant" found that he was at the police station, the "sergeant" cursed at the officer taking the report and hung up.
The scammers were spoofing the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department number on the caller ID with the number 717-240-6390, officers said.
"If anyone gets a call like this, it is a scam, no law enforcement agency takes payments via Bitcoin, gift cards, Money Gram, Western Union, ect," the NMTPD said. "If in doubt hang up and look up your local police number and report this."
