A new scam involving a fake Dallas County deputy and jury duty has made its way into the Dallas area.
Lisa Cobb was reportedly targeted by a scammer and received a voicemail from someone claiming to be a Dallas County deputy. As Cobb explained to Fox 4 KDFW, the caller claimed to be reaching out to settle a “legal matter,” which naturally sent her pulse racing.
When Cobb called the fake deputy back, she noted that he appeared to be a “very calm, collected, polite, and respectful” man, as he explained she had missed jury duty.
“These people are getting better and better, and it’s not so obvious,” Cobb told Fox 4. “Sadly, you have to be suspicious of everything these days.”
Incidentally, she had, in fact, missed jury duty recently, giving further credence to the man’s claims.
However, the man’s request for cash to avoid jail time eventually raised a red flag, and Cobb began to get an inkling that something wasn’t right. She asked for his badge number, hung up, and quickly called the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) to verify it.
While the badge number the caller gave was valid, DCSO told Cobb that the call was a scam.
“No one from the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department is ever going to call you and request money over the phone because you missed jury duty,” Doug Sisk, DCSO’s public information officer, told Fox 4.
He explained that similar scams have been reported two to three times a week lately.
“If you get these calls, just hang up on them,” Sisk said. “Or if you want to tell them, ‘Come arrest me!’ I mean, no one’s going to come out and arrest you.”
On April 11, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) issued a warning about a similar scam. Someone was claiming to be from TCSO and threatening to arrest the caller for failure to report for jury duty or outstanding warrants if they did not immediately pay up.
Several community members commented on the post, sharing their experiences with these scam calls.
“Received a call this morning. Sounded professional but their accusations were too far fetched to take it serious. Fraudulent activity claiming that I’m being fraudulent! Beware folks,” one person warned.
DCSO has a list of current scams, providing useful details on who callers might claim to be or from what numbers they may be calling.
For instance, one scam was said to involve a person claiming to be Corporal Mark Hollis from DCSO. He provides his badge number and a warrant number before asking the victim to purchase a pre-paid debit card and meet him at the Frank Crowley Courthouse.
Further advice provided by DCSO to avoid being scammed includes verifying an active warrant by calling 214-761-9026. Anyone who is a victim of scammers is urged to contact local law enforcement to file a criminal complaint.
In Dallas, white-collar crime strains police resources, which are already stretched thin. As of July 29, 1,371 fraud offenses were reported citywide this year, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard. District 6, represented by Omar Narvaez, had the highest number of fraud offenses logged — 211.
The Dallas Police Department currently has roughly 3,000 officers, which is considerably short of the 4,000 recommended in a City report. DPD also has fewer monetary resources than many other high-crime cities, with City leaders approving a budget of just $654 million this fiscal year.