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LISBON -- Area residents need to be wary if the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office comes up on their caller ID.
Scammers are using the civil office phone number, names of deputies and a threat of arrest in an attempt to get money from their marks.
"We will never ask for money if you have a warrant," Sheriff Brian McLaughlin said Thursday.
He also said deputies and sheriff's office employees are not going to have someone go somewhere else to get cryptocurrency, a form of digital money, or gift cards to send them.
McLaughlin wants residents to be aware of the scam and advised them to just hang up. If they have questions, they can call the sheriff's office at 330-424-7255.
"They're actually using real deputies' names," he said.
He explained that scammers use a technique called spoofing, where they use someone else's phone number to hide their true identity. The sheriff's office has multiple phone lines and the one being used is from the civil office in the downtown courthouse.
McLaughlin said the scam seems to be increasing. He first became aware of the issue on March 25 and placed some information on the sheriff's social media page. There had been complaints about a deputy calling asking for money to take care of a warrant or missed court date.
Then on Wednesday, he was walking down the courthouse steps and encountered a woman who asked him for help.
She was on the phone with the scammer at the time, with the caller telling her not to go inside the courthouse or go to the sheriff's office. She commented about McLaughlin being the sheriff and when she checked her phone, the caller had hung up.
McLaughlin said the scam began with a phone call to a county resident who was told to withdraw money from her bank account and then take it somewhere in Salem to open a cryptocurrency account. She withdrew the money and when she tried to get the cryptocurrency, it didn't work, so the caller told her to go to East Liverpool. She stopped in Lisbon on the way and the caller told her she would be arrested if she went to the sheriff's office. That's when she encountered McLaughlin. In this case, she didn't lose any money.
McLaughlin said there are all kinds of lures the scammers use, such as claiming the person missed a court appearance or failed to appear for jury duty, telling them to send money to avoid arrest. He stressed that all money goes through court, including bonds. The sheriff's office does not ask for money to take care of warrant.
He explained that residents should not give out their personal information and in a case like that, they should just hang up.