The recipients of these calls are told they missed jury duty, and are asked to purchase gift cards to pay for the “fines” they’ve incurred, authorities say.
YORK COUNTY, Pa. — The York County Sheriff’s Department is warning residents of several suspected scams involving people posing as officials from various York County law enforcement agencies.
During these calls, the department says, scammers attempt to collect a fine in lieu of arrest for offenses like failing to report for jury duty or similar transgressions.
The callers tell victims they can avoid arrest by purchasing a prepaid debit card such as a Green Dot card or a gift card and read the card number over the phone to satisfy the fine.
“It is important to understand that legitimate court employees and other law enforcement officials will never call to solicit this type of personal or financial information from you,” the sheriff’s department said. “The Sheriff’s Office won’t ask for a credit/debit or gift card number or bank routing numbers or ask for funds to be wired for any purpose.
“If the caller is urging you to provide this type of information or any other personal or financial information, hang up and report the call to the your local police department.”
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