WESTLAKE, Ohio – Telephone scams are not going away any time soon and everyone must be on guard and know what to do if they receive a scammer’s phone call. A doctor/lawyer Westlake couple, Sherri and James Carney, were targeted recently.
Sherri, a busy doctor, received the call at work. The name on the call log was “Sergeant Cummings” who asked for a callback.
When Sherri called back, she was told by the caller a subpoena had been served on her and since she didn’t appear in court, the judge ordered a bench warrant for her arrest.
“This is a courtesy call,” the man said, “because you are a doctor,” according to Sherri’s husband, Jim. “You can come to the police station and sign a paper to compare signatures on the subpoena, but we need a credit card number first to ensure you show up.”
Jim and Sherri both have offices in the same building. Sherri went immediately to talk to Jim who said, “So I got on the phone. (The caller) kept insisting either he gets a credit number, or she would be arrested right away.”
But when Jim said Sherri can’t leave her patients to come to the police station, the caller said, “Then we need you to go to a bank and take out $8,000 and turn it into crypto-currency. Then you can come down to the Westlake police station at your leisure.”
As Jim began to put off the caller because he realized it was a scam, the caller said, “I have to stop this call now. I have spent too much time with you. Either you get the money to…
