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Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene is alerting the public to a telephone scam taking place in the area in which the perpetrators contact people posing as Mahoning County Sheriff's Office ranking officers.
Sometimes they use fake names and other times use the names of actual sheriff's office employees, according to a sheriff's office news release.
The scammers accuse the resident of not showing up for jury duty, a subpoena or a court order. Then they demand that a fine be paid to the sheriff's office in cash, bitcoin or gift cards. The callers make the threat that if the fine is not paid, the sheriff's office is going to come to arrest the resident, the release states.
Greene "wants to remind everyone that the sheriff's office would never solicit funds or personal information under threat of any kind over the phone," the release states.
The sheriff's office would also not give an individual advance warning that the sheriff's office was coming to arrest anyone, the release states.
Greene gives this advice to help people avoid being a victim of such scams:
•Hang up on unexpected requests.
•Do not click links in such messages.
•Refuse irregular payment demands.
•Never send money to someone you have not met face-to-face.
The phone numbers often used and given are not traceable numbers. Therefore, other than educating the public that these are scams, there is little that law enforcement can do after a person has been victimized, the release states.