For Immediate Release
March 28, 2019
FCSO has received numerous reports over the past few days from citizens who have received telephone calls from callers posing as Florence County Sherrif’s Deputies. The caller identifies himself as a specific FCSO deputy informing that he/she has a warrant to arrest the person answering for failure to appear for jury service, but they can avoid all that by providing a credit card number or other personally identifying information to pay the fine. If you receive one of these calls or a voicemail to return the call, please JUST HANG UP! It is not us.
Reports like this are not new, but just the latest version of an ongoing telephone scam.
No one from FCSO will call you to advise that you are about to be arrested. And we are not a collection agency for the court. We will never ask you to pay a fine using a credit, debit or gift card, and we will never ask you for your banking or personal information over the phone.
We have worked closely with state and federal law enforcement partners on this issue. Unfortunately there is little that local law enforcement can do to prevent it from occurring. In most instances the calls are being made from out of state, if not from out of the country, even if it appears to be from a local number or a caller with a local accent. Please don’t fall for the scam and don’t engage the caller. The longer you remain on the line, the greater the chance of becoming a victim. Just hang up!
Major Michael M. Nunn
General Counsel/PIO
