Mark Medley knows about identity theft because he’s been a victim, and he runs a nonprofit in Albuquerque to help other victims.
No one is immune, though, from callers who seek to scare you by warning you there are warrants out for your arrest.
Medley, who is the caretaker for his mother, answered an early morning phone call recently in which a supposed Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputy claimed his mother had failed to appear for jury duty and that two arrest warrants had been issued.
The caller told Medley to rush to Walgreens and get nearly $2,000 on a money card in order to clear his mother’s name.
Medley, who runs ID Theft Resolutions, knew what was up, but he explained to the caller anyway, “My mom is handicapped, and she wouldn’t be able to serve on a jury, even if she wanted to.”
The caller, who provided what he said was his badge number, obviously didn’t care and hung up.
The next caller claimed to be “Amber” from “Court Services” who said Medley needed to bring to the courthouse identification and documentation proving he was his mother’s caregiver. He also was to provide his mother’s driver’s license and a utility bill showing her address. And he had to do it, she said, within the next few hours.
Such efforts to rip people off are not uncommon, and the state Attorney General’s Office saw an uptick in reports about imposter scams during the pandemic, spokeswoman Jerri Mares said.
“Our office sees this scam frequently…
