County of Buncombe issued the following announcement on Sept. 19.
The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office is aware of an ongoing scam where callers identify themselves as employees of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. The number calling individuals is (828) 630-8301.
If you do receive this call or a voicemail, do not engage in conversation. Just say you are aware this is a scam and hang up. Do not call the number back.
The scammers say that you have failed to respond to a jury summons and now owe fines and have a warrant out for your arrest. Unless you pay the fine immediately you will be arrested. The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office will never ask for payment for fines or judgements to be paid over the phone and there is not a monetary fine for missing jury duty.
These scammers are not local, so they ultimately move to asking you to put money on a prepaid debit card. The Sheriff’s Office will never ask you to put money on a prepaid card and give that info over the phone in order to pay fines. ***
Always feel free to call back the Sheriff’s Office non-emergency line at 828-250-6670 if you are not sure if you are being scammed or have any questions.
Original source can be found here.
