Several residents received spoofed phone calls this week from someone posing as a deputy with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, threatening arrest unless a bond payment was made.
A scammer manipulated caller ID to display a real number from the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office and convinced three people to almost send large amounts of money, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chris Burke.
None of the transfers were actually completed, he said.
Deputies spoke with the victims on Thursday. They said a man identifying himself as “Lt. Brian Wilson” – a name not associated with the Sheriff’s Office – told them there was a warrant for their arrest because of a missed court appearance.
“Wilson” threatened them with arrest if they failed to pay a bond.
When victims expressed skepticism, the caller told them to Google the phone number and sent what appeared to be official documents from the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Cyber scams are regularly reported to the Sheriff’s Office, but this level of sophistication is a new, Burke said.
“I have not yet seen the mobile escort orders in these fake documents, so they're getting pretty sophisticated,” Burke said.
The victims were told to transfer the “bond” money through the Coinstar kiosk at Albertsons.
“I'm totally embarrassed that I fell for it, but they were so convincing, and the phone number was from the sheriff's department,” said one victim, who requested anonymity because she was embarrassed and concerned for her reputation.
The scammer called her on Wednesday afternoon, claiming she had failed to appear for jury duty and needed to post a $14,000 bond or she would be arrested and detained for seven to 35 days.
After withdrawing the money, she asked to speak with Sheriff Sean Smith.
When “Wilson” was unfamiliar with the sheriff’s name, she took the cash back to the bank and reported the attempted fraud.
The case remained under investigation Thursday, but authorities believe the scammer is operating from outside Colorado.
The Sheriff's Office said it will never request any form of payment over the phone. Burke recommends residents immediately hang up on any caller requesting payment.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
