The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department is warning residents to beware of scammers claiming to be police officers and making calls demanding money. It’s a familiar pattern of fraudulent phone calls, attempting to get unsuspecting citizens to pay alleged fines or fees to fake phone cops. Real police officers don’t phone citizens to collect fines or fees–period!
Here’s the detailed play by play of the current scam, from a BCSD media statement:
Over the past 24 hours the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office has received multiple phone calls from citizens stating they have been contacted by an individual claiming to be “Lt. Ian Dodd” or “Sgt Dave Albers” with the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect then provides a false story regarding missing jury duty or a warrant that was issued for the victim(s) requiring payment in order to take care of the issue. In all cases the suspect used a phone number with a (269) area code in order to make the call appear to be legitimate.
At no point will the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office contact residents of Berrien County via telephone demanding money or threatening to arrest individuals who do not provide payment. Furthermore, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office and Berrien County Court do not request or accept payments that originate through money transfer locations such as Walmart, Walgreens, Meijer, Western Union, etc. If you receive a call from someone claiming to be with the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office and you feel it is a scam please contact Berrien County Dispatch at (269) 983-3060 to verify the identity of the law enforcement representative.
Berrien County Sheriff’s Office is currently conducting an investigation into these incidents.
Anyone with questions should contact the Sheriff’s Department at 269-983-3060.
