Man posing as Hamilton County lieutenant dupes people wanted on warrants with scam

Thursday, March 27, 2014

A man claiming to be a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office lieutenant is phoning residents telling them they have failed to appear in court on a warrant.

The man tells them they can avoid going to jail by purchasing a Green Dot card for a specific amount of money. He instructs them to phone him back and read back the card number.

"The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office does not follow up on outstanding warrants in this fashion," said Janice Atkinson, county spokeswoman.

What normally happens is deputies contact anyone with an outstanding warrant and ask them to turn themselves in or members of the fugitive unit take them to the jail, she said in a press release.

Anyone with information is asked to phone the sheriff's office at 209-8940.