Telephone scams continue to hit the community with the latest culprits pretending to be local law enforcement.
The callers are claiming to be from the Yazoo County Sheriff’s Department, demanding payment for fines.
“They said my wife had a warrant for failing to show up at federal court,” one victim said. “I knew something was odd about the call because she was never due in court for anything.”
The victim said the caller than told him to bring $2,000 to the Yazoo County Courthouse to cover a “temporary bond.”
“I immediately knew something was suspicious and hung up,” the victim said. “But they had every detailed worked out. When I called the number back, they even answered the phone saying, ‘Yazoo County Sheriff’s Department.’”
The victim notified the real Sheriff’s department and soon learned it was a scam that was happening all over town.
“The deputy told us they had received four calls already from other people reporting the same thing,” the victim said.
Sheriff Jacob Sheriff also said he remains concerned about other scams, including an ongoing problem of residents being called by someone claiming to be with the IRS.
“They’re scaring victims into thinking they owe money,” Sheriff said. “The IRS never call you to try to collect a debt.”
Another resident reported to The Herald that she received a call from someone claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House informing her that she had won $8 million.
All they needed was her banking information to transfer the funds.
Sheriff said if you haven’t entered a lottery it’s a safe bet that you haven’t won one, and no matter what, never give any banking information over the phone.
