The Washington County Sheriff’s Office wants to make you aware of a current scam in which the caller represents themselves as a Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputy or employee. The scammers use the Washington County Sheriff’s Office name and an actual Sheriff’s Office employee’s information to convince citizens further to fall victim.
All conversations lead to the caller asking for payment for a warrant or bail due to missing a jury trial. They might mention personal information to convince you. We understand that the scammers’ having your information can be intimidating, but this is a scam. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office will NEVER call anyone demanding payment for ANYTHING.
The scammers will convince you to put funds into a kiosk as bail or fee payment. They may even try to get your bank or credit card information. The phone numbers they call from and the callback numbers they provide are not associated with the Sheriff’s Office. They will keep you on the line to prevent you from verifying whether this is legitimate.
These individuals can also spoof our phone number (make it appear that the phone call is coming from our legitimate office phone number when it’s not). If you receive one of these calls, we recommend you tell them that you’re hanging up the phone and you will call them back (to give you time to contact our office). If you receive a voicemail, DO NOT call the number they gave you to call back. Call our main office number, or come into our office in person and talk to one of our front office staff.
A few of the scam examples are, but not limited to:
1. A voicemail stating they are affiliated with our agency and asking for some personal information so that you will call back.
2. A warrant being issued for your arrest due to missing a jury trial.
3. The caller will say that they have a legal matter they would like to discuss with you.
4. Gag orders are sometimes mentioned as a scare tactic.
Washington County Sheriff’s Office contact information:
(435)656-6500, 620 S. 5300 W. Hurricane, Utah 84737.