Scammers Pose as Calhoun County Sheriff’s Deputies

A Calhoun County man is lucky his bank account wasn’t drained after two men contacted him claiming to be with the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department, and were able to get his bank information.

Deputy Art Draper tells WBCK that the man was called on Monday, February 15^th.   He later told deputies that the first man who called had an Indian accent and claimed to be with the department.  He said they told him they had an outstanding warrant concerning an accident that happened in San Antonio, Texas.  The caller provided a fake badge number and fake warrant information. The suspect asked the citizen for his bank name and the last four numbers of his account number.   The caller then told the man not to talk to anyone about the call.   A few minutes later, a second man called the victim, also with an Indian accent.  He mentioned the name of Sheriff Steve Hinkley and gave the same story about an outstanding warrant.   Deputy Draper thinks the second caller may have been trying to verify or correct some information obtained during the first call.

Draper said the victim was an older man who seemed to be a nice and trusting person.  But as he recounted the calls, he became more suspicious and the next day he called the Sheriff’s department.  He said he had been in Texas, but not since 1980, and had never been to San Antonio.   Draper says they were able to secure the bank account before the scammers could get any money.

Deputy Draper said, “He was very fortunate that he did not suffer any financial loss.”  Draper says they see a lot of different types of scams, ranging from this one to scammers asking for money to get a loved one out of jail.  The Sheriff’s Office wants you to be aware of these types of scams, and say that deputies will never call you to request such information.

If you receive a call like this, please call Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch at 269-781-0911 to report the incident.

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