SCAM ALERT: St. Johns County
On the afternoon of Tuesday September 13 2022, I received a phone call which I missed from number 1 904 297 – 2250 the caller left a voice mail informing me that he was from the St Johns County Sheriffs office and that I needed to cantact him right away regarding an important matter.
Upon contact the person at number 904 297 2250 informed me they where with the SJCSO their name was Sgt Davis and that I had a warrant being issued for my arrest for failure to comply with a new request for a DNA update. I informed the person claiming to be Sgt Davis that I had received no such request and that if I had been requested to do so I have always been compliant and would have no problem coming in to submit whatever they needed.
They informed me that the only way to stop the warrant and arrest was to make a secure bond payment and that would allow him to stop the warrant and re schedule a new date to submit my new DNA screening. He advised me that the bond amount was 10,000 and I would need to pay 10% of that right away over the phone in the amount of 1000 and he would be able to reschedule my appointment. I informed him I did not have that amount on card and could only provide cash, the person claiming to be Sgt Davis then told me he was going to place me on hold and transfer me to the “ SECURE BONDING AGENCY “ He then provided me with another phone number to the Bonding agency in-case the transfer didn’t go through so I could call back if needed, the number he provided me was 904 621 0441 he then placed me on a brief hold and within a minute another man came on the phone claiming to be with the SECURE BONDING AGENCY, The man on the phone requested that I make payment in the amount of 1000 using a credit card, I again informed that I did not have that amount on card and only had cash, he asked how much I have on card,
in which case I informed him at the most a few hundred, I told him I do have cash and would have no problem coming to the SJCSO to make payment or to his agency.
He then instructed me to go to the nearest winndixie gas station or other money transfer place and that I could make a transfer of funds that way,
I found it starting to sound odd so I asked the person claiming to be a bonding agency if they could transfer me back to Sgt Davis for a few questions. Once transferred back I Asked the person claiming to be officer Sgt Davis if I could meet him in person at the SJCSO as everything sounded a little odd and I would rather meet in person,
the person claiming to be Sgt Davis then told me we could meet but he couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t be placed under arrest without receipt of payment to the secure bonding agency again I felt things where starting to sound odd, While on the phone with the person claiming to be Sgt Davis I quickly grabbed my wife’s phone and
placed a call to the real SJCSO registration office and asked if there was a warrant for me for non compliance and that I had a Sgt Davis on the other line saying I needed to make payment to avoid arrest. The Officer at the SJCSO registration office informed me it was a scam.
When the person claiming to be Sgt Davis heard me on the other line speaking to an actual Police officer they quickly hung up . I attempted to call back two times to inform them I was going to file a report, they did not answer my calls and the phone went dead both times.
Sadly, I was the victim of a nearly identical scam call. I got as far as buying the google play gift cards from a local supermarket before I finally woke up and realized this couldn’t be real. The scammers were incredibly convincing, and seemed to be ready for any possible objection or question I raised. Be wary, these guys are really aggressive and have been pulling this for at least the past couple of years.
All, you MUST, MUST, MUST, MUST report these scams to your local police department. I know they may not want to write a report, I know they may dismiss it, they may even insult you with the standard, “well maybe if you didn’t…” but the only way we can get them to investigate these people is to to bring it to a point where they get tired of writing these reports. If they feel they’ve had enough of writing reports as much as we’ve had enough of getting robbed, hopefully they will investigate these people.
As I said above, the state AG may be better since the local LE offices may be involved.
Fell for this and I knew it was a scam. I let my fear override my knowledge and gut feel this was a scam. I felt so stupid and angry. This will stop when everyone learns just to hang up.
I did shortstop another one when I asked “I bet your mama would be real proud of you knowing what you are doing” and I hung up
Due to me being a disabled veteran and having plenty of spare time on my hands. I use up alot of these scammers time. Without giving up any valuable info, I will play along and actually act like I’m going along with the scam. Sometimes I’ll play dumb and act like I don’t know what I’m doing and have them guide me through each step even the mundane steps that even a toddler would know how to do. I even go out to my car and get in it and start it up as if I’m actually going to get a gift card/money transfer etc. I can usually hear their voice getting slightly frustrated and impatient. I have done this with all formats of scams. The computer/software scams, the free solar panel scams, arrest warrant scams, Social security, FBI, etc. You name it lol. Once I have had enough entertainment letting them thinked they hooked a fish I let them know that I knew it was a scam the entire time and was bored af and wanted to use up their time. Maybe by me keeping them on the phone for an hour or so might have just saved several people from being scammed.
The same exact thing happened to me last month. The only difference is that my bond would be $30k and that he could stop the warrant if I pay 10% or $3k. Thank God that my spidey senses kicked in and I told him that this sounded like a scam.
I am willing to bet the person(s) committing this crime is a LEO or former LEO.
$5 anyone?
It is… when my mate indicated that to his probation officer, as I mentioned in my comment about only they have access to an offenders phone number or gps phone number, the scams all but stopped in his area.
Things that make you go hmmmm….
Exactly!
Wonder how long its gonna be before they arrest these FBI, Police & Probation Officers for organizing these scams…
I mean, it’s pretty obvious they’re running them when S.O.’s phone numbers & GPS tracking devices phone numbers are solely accessible to these officers & literally noone else.
The ignorance on both ends is obscene though… it should be obvious to anyone with a criminal background & it’s pure stupid for these “Officers” to think they’d not get found out when they’re the only ones able to call an Offenders GPS device (when that’s the case) 🤡
Better still, if they try to avoid reporting or act all dismissive, tell them you’re going to file an official complaint to the state attorney general in that their dismissiveness likely indicates their office is probably involved.
As has been said countless times they will NEVER call and tell you that you have a warrant. But I will also add this a warrant is issued by a judge the cops only make an application for a warrant the judge decides if they have enough of a reason to issues one and if so he issues one. Once a warrant is issued the cops don’t have the authority to ” make it go away”the court can only do that . once a warrant is issued the only thing the cops can do is execute it.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/09/17/scam-alert-columbia-county-warns-residents-about-calls-from-fake-deputies/
They will send an alert to the masses but remain silent when it affects us.
Not to minimize any scam directed particularly in our direction but imo these types of scams do not seem to be particularly directed at registered citizens. I have had family and friends/associates with drug possession charges, DUIs, burglary, theft etc etc get hit with these type of phone call scams. Hell I even know people I use to work with that have never been arrested get these types of phone calls.
I had been away from my home from Thursday to this evening, Sunday. When I went to check my phone messages, I had a call from a ‘character’ who claimed the exact same thing…missed DNA sample appointment, he could get me a break on an arrest warrant with a repayable bond of $3,000 or 10% of the $30,000 the court was asking. I could drop off the check at an address on Sarno Road in Melbourne…supposedly a Brevard County Sheriff’s office. I played games with him for a while but, when I told him that I belonged to an organization that reported a similar situation as a scam, he hung up on me. Thank you, FAC. The sheriff’s offices on both 407 and in Titusville were closed this evening, therefore his willingness to meet me at a sheriff’s office was totally a scam…the street number he gave me was even incorrect. I got to thinking…I would like to invite him to my home to pick up a check, then I would beat the ‘snot’ out of the SOB. I’d give him a blank check where the ‘sun don’t shine’. He was using the number 321-253-6658.
I had one of these ass clowns call me several months ago, they actually called my wife first and the only access to that number was with LE.. late last year the local SO showed up with the fed dick head asking my wife questions before I was able to stop her, then low and behold 3 months later I’m getting scammer calls like this.
Sheriff office does nothing they continue to call. Ive made up my mind,, Next time they call me I’m gonna tell um I’ll gladly meet them if they want a sex offenders foot up there……
I haven’t gotten one yet. I generally don’t answer if it’s not a call from someone on my contact list or a business name I recognize on ID.
I received this same type of call at least three times. I was told not to remove my ankle bracelet (which I no longer ware because I’ve been off probation for ten years.) I asked what division he was with and he hung up.
Received this scam today from 904 630 5480
Told me I missed a court date and a notice by mail and asked what I wanted to do about it.
I love my price club membership