BELTON, Texas (FOX 44) – The Bell County Sheriff's Office is warning of a new scam that they say has taken things to a new, higher level.
As with past scams, residents are receiving calls from individuals claiming to be from the Sheriff's Department, trying to get money from them for missing trial or jury duty or serving an arrest warrant. What's new is that these scammers leave a voicemail message with a recorded callback number. That number leads to an automated system that looks just like the one used by the real Sheriff's Department. A Sheriff's Department spokesperson said they have a system in place where victims leave a callback number, and it's very convincing.
Police have recently been sending messages using the name “Captain Robert McClinton” telling people they have an arrest warrant and to call them back, but police stress that they never make these calls – if it was a real problem, they would come to you directly.
Authorities advise anyone with questions to hang up and immediately call 254-933-5412 to verify that it is really authorities calling — it probably isn't, and authorities want to know about calls made in their name.
The spokesperson said that while the scammers are “sophisticated in their tactics” and sound very convincing, people need to remember that the real sheriff's office would never make these calls.
