RICHMOND COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has warned the community of a recent uptick in scams.
An unknown man has reportedly been calling people in the community, claiming to be a member of the sheriff’s department. According to authorities, these calls consistently involve the transfer of money or divulgence of personal — often financial — information.
Although these types of scams aren’t new, the department noted there has been an influx in these cases over the past few months.
“Oh, my goodness,” Richmond County Sheriff Steve Smith said. “We have a call at least once or twice a week about the scams, different ones, and they just seem to get more and more sophisticated as they go.”
Ashley Shoultz became one of the latest targets this past Tuesday. A man claiming to be “Deputy Clifton,” called the Richmond resident.
“The story was I didn’t show up for jury duty,” Shoultz said.
Shoultz said the caller gave her a few different options.
“I could go to a federally certified kiosk to pay the citation,” Shoultz said.
She was instructed to pay $900 in cash. Shoultz opted for an alternate offer.
“The citation would be dismissed, end of the story,” Shoultz said. “The caveat to that was I would have to wait eight to 12 hours in a holding cell, in jail.”
After making her way to the Richmond…
