NEWS RELEASE:
The Richland County Sheriff’s Office has informed the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office of a scam that is currently being reported by Richland County citizens.
Unknown persons falsely claiming to be from the Sheriff’s Office are contacting citizens claiming they have missed jury duty and that a fine needs to be paid or they will be jailed. As part of the scam, citizens are asked to pay their fines using Green Dot cards. Contact with citizens by the scammer has been by phone and email. A fake Deputy Sheriff ID has reportedly been used as part of the scam. See the Richland County Sheriff’s Office news release below.
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office does not contact citizens if they don’t show for jury duty nor do they collect any type of fine money.
Sheriff Scott M. Kent asks that residents who receive these types of calls please contact his Office at (419) 562-7906.
The following is the original news release by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office:
Residents of Richland County have made police reports whereby they have been victims of a telephone scam whereby the caller falsely claims to be from the Sheriff’s Office. Similar scams have been reported in the past and released to the media to warn citizens.
Victims explain that they receive a call from someone claiming to be with the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and that they failed to show up for Grand Jury or Jury Duty. This is a scam.
The calls also have been made to several doctor offices in the Mansfield/Richland County area posing as a Lieutenant Troy Stevens, Court Investigator, from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office. Victims have also received emails as part of the scam.