By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. — Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard cautions county residents who receive phone calls threatening their arrest because they supposedly did not show up for jury service that it is a scam.
Bouchard warns people not to believe the caller, especially if the caller asks for any kind of immediate payment to avoid arrest.
“Just hang up,” Bouchard said. “Again, we’re getting reports of residents being hit with these phony phone calls. The sheriff’s office will never demand immediate payment over the phone. Ever. Just hang up.”
On Feb. 28, approximately 15 Rochester Hills residents reported suspicious contact with callers posing as sheriff’s office personnel. All the calls were made by scammers and not by legitimate law enforcement or court officials, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
None of the intended victims contacted were tricked by the scam, and one potential victim contacted the sheriff’s office to complain of an overly aggressive caller who claimed to be a deputy and furnished a badge number. No one with the name and badge number the scammer furnished is employed in the sheriff’s office, the sheriff’s office stated.
Typically, the phony law enforcement person makes a bogus claim that there is an arrest warrant out for a citizen’s arrest because they failed to appear for jury duty in either federal or state court. The caller claims that the only way to set the warrant aside is to pay a cash bond of varying amounts – in either bitcoin or gift cards. The caller often uses the name and may give a badge number of a person purportedly employed as a deputy.
Representatives from both the U.S. District Court – Eastern Michigan District in Detroit and Oakland County Circuit Court said delinquent jurors would be contacted by mail, never by phone. The Sheriff’s Office and the courts do not accept bitcoin or gift cards for cash bonds.