Chesapeake, VA Sheriff’s Office warning of phone scheme targeting sex offenders
These phone scams targeting people on the registry have been discussed many times at our website. Very little seems to be done by law enforcement throughout the state of Florida, but fortunately that is not true everywhere in our country.
We recently saw the Pennsylvania State Police warn registrants about a scam, something FDLE does not do and does not seem to care to do.
Now in Chesapeake, VA, the sheriff’s office is warning about a phone scam targeting registrants, involving people who are impersonating law enforcement officers. Just as important, the sheriff’s office is telling anyone who receives one of these calls to hang up and call the CSO directly. It appears that the Chesapeake sheriff would like to catch these impostors.
One of our members recently pointed out on a post, dealing with another scam, that some Florida sheriffs’ offices might not want to be bothered investigating these scams, but knowing that the caller is impersonating a law enforcement officer might make them more likely to pursue the case.
One of our members said that Duval County is at least putting up warning signs for people to see when they are forced to come in for registration. Please let us know if you are aware of other counties in Florida that are trying to warn people of these scams, or better yet, if they are trying to catch these scammers.
I was recently targeted by someone impersonating a police officer claiming that I had not provided a DNA sample when I registered earlier that week per a new federal mandate. They said I signed for a letter with a court date that I missed so there was a bench warrant. They said they were trying to get this cleared up as the Sheriff’s office should have taken the sample when I was there for my six-month registration. They were pretty convincing but wanted me to post a $6,500 bond so I could stay out of jail while this was straightened out. They wanted me to buy ‘vouchers’ at Walgreens, CVS, or another retailer that were compatible with the Jpay system. Gift cards basically. By that point, I had looked up whether I had an active warrant and spoken with an actual police officer. On the bright side, I had talked them down from $6.500 to $1,000. Scary that they called me on my cell phone. They obviously got my info from the registry.
Falsely Impersonating an law enforcement officer is a third degree felony under Florida Statute 843.08. This occurs when a person: “Falsely assumes or pretends to be a law enforcement officer; [1] and. Takes it upon himself or herself to act as a law enforcement officer.” This is precisely why reporting such incidents to law enforcement when it happens is so important. Equally important is the demand for LE to investigate these Felonies
The Pinellas county spot office also has a warning sign next to the check in desk about these scams. I haven’t received one of these calls though so I’m not sure if they do anything else.
What is the penalty in Florida if someone uses the online website to make a false allegations, harass etc. a registered person?
In California, Megan’s law misuse states a fine , imprisonment or both.
Does anyone know of a Federal or State law that can be used to help with this? Like California ?
Pinellas County Sheriffs Department’s S.P.O.T unit has warnings about these scams posted at the registration office. They also ask you to file a report at the Administration office. But the deputies there ask why you are doing this and that the S.P.O.T deputy should be doing it…… What a joke.
Anything involving gift card or any other service by someone acting as a law enforcement officer, is an immediate red flag that it’s a scam. Law enforcement works directly for the county and state, and revenue collection is handled thusly, and not by the individual. Probation has some exception to this, but again revenue is generally collected at their office for accountability, and they don’t except gift cards.
Tennessee
Not long ago, I got a call saying I didn’t appear to give another DNA sample… a warrent was issued… $5,000 bond was needed… I said I would go get the “needed” funds but they wanted me to stay on “the line”… I did… I muted the mic and grabbed my better-half… we went to the sheriff’s office a half mile away… at first they said they couldn’t do anything about it and told me to simply hang up… I said, “He’s pretending to be Officer M—y”, which actually did work there… phone calls were made and a detective came out and got the phone number… I could hear the guy, but he couldn’t hear us… he asked if I was still there and I unmuted the mic and said yes, and then muted it again… the detective asked me in surprise, “is that him?” and I nodded yes… he said “DON’T HANG UP ON HIM!” and left… every now and then I would unmute and tell the guy I was working on the purchases and to stand by, then remute… after a short time the detective came out and told me the guy hung up… checking my phone, sure nuff… seeing my puzzled look, he continued saying, “we got the guy”… apparently he saw the police at his place and hung without me knowing it… he denied it, of course, until an officer dialed his number and his phone rang. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Later I found out he was “a friend” of the REAL Officer M—y…
😳😳😳😳😳🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Here’s a thought: None of us would be targets of this scam if it weren’t for being on the Registry. This “civil regulatory scheme is government doxxing, enabling scammers to target us. 😡
Can we sue the government for enabling this??
The purpose of the Oppression Lists is to exclude, ostracize, and segregate. That is literally the point. I don’t know why they even bother lying that it is for public safety or protecting children. Of course it isn’t.
Once big government forces gun offenders to live a half a mile from schools and forces them into homelessness, then we’ll consider if they are still lying or not.