Authorities say, Muskegon County residents should be on the lookout for phone scammers who claim to be the Muskegon County Sherriff’s office.
According to officials, the scammers tell victims they have an arrest warrant, and unless they purchase ‘Pay Cards’ to post bond over the phone, officers will soon come to their home, and haul them off to jail.
Muskegon County Sherriff Michael J. Poulin warns local residents not to be fooled.
“You know really just use your best judgement,” Poulin said. “If it doesn’t sound correct, for instance asking people to go get a pay card to post a bond--that is not how the business works, or how our process works. Or any other law enforcement agency throughout the world.”
Making the scam even more convincing, the scammer claims to be Detective Sergeant Tom Johnson, who provides a call back number. When victims call the number, they get a bogus automated Sheriff’s office voicemail.
While the Sheriff Poulin says he does have an officer with that name, it’s not the same person making the calls.