Spartanburg County Public Information Officer Scottie Kay Blackwell said someone is calling people and pretending to be with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office. According to complaints filed with the sheriff’s office, the callers tell the unsuspecting victims that they’re facing several warrants and need to send money to avoid arrest.Seventy-four-year-old Joe Brewer and his wife, 68-year-old Karen Brewer, said they received a call on Karen’s phone earlier this week.”It was someone that identified their self as the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Department,” Joe said. “They had all of her (Karen’s) information. Thirty to 40 years back personal information. We had no reason to think it wasn’t legit.”Joe said the caller stated that Karen had several warrants out for her arrest, including a bench warrant that could, quote, “be paid off with any money you can send right now.”Karen transferred her remaining Venmo balance at the time, a little more than $93.00, to a private account with the account name ‘Joshua Allen’ and a username of “Cr-1951-1972-2023.” A total of nearly two dozen phone calls were made back and forth between the caller and the Brewers, and Karen said she received a call not long after sending the money that it wouldn’t be enough and the Brewers needed to pay a total of $2,800.00Karen, who is also disabled, said the phone calls eventually led to what she called stroke-like symptoms due to the fear of being arrested per the threats made by the caller if the money wasn’t paid.“He said, ‘Make sure that you don’t tell anybody what’s going on,’” Karen said. “The more this was going on, the sicker I was getting.”Joe said their son transferred the total of $2,800.00 to his bank account to help. From there, Joe said he withdrew the money and was told he needed to follow some very specific instructions.“They told me to go to a Food Lion or Ingles to a green kiosk,” Joe said. “So, I went there and found that. The person that was on the phone with me at that time gave me a set of numbers to enter in. I entered it, and they gave me more numbers. I put the money in there, and it was gone. He told me to take the receipt, put it in an envelope, stamp the envelope, and I thought that everything would be taken care of then.”Joe said he dropped the envelope off at the courthouse, and he was also told that he would be able to show up at the courthouse at 6 p.m. to get his money back. The courthouse closes at 5 p.m., so when Joe arrived, he realized that he had been scammed.He was able to get the letter back from the post office and report the scam to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office afterward.Clerk of Court Amy Cox said she’s had dealings with several victims and would-be victims, totaling around five just this week alone.”The scam attempts have been really aggressive as of late,” Cox said.Cox also said there have been reports of fraudulent emails from individuals stating they’re from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office. Cox said if you’re receiving these calls, hang up immediately and contact the sheriff’s office directly. Cox said the sheriff’s office would never ask for money through Bitcoin kiosks or gift cards and don’t give any personal information over the phone. Cox also wants people to be aware of public databases in which scammers can get your personal information to come across as credible.
Spartanburg County Public Information Officer Scottie Kay Blackwell said someone is calling people and pretending to be with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.
According to complaints filed with the sheriff’s office, the callers tell the unsuspecting victims that they’re facing several warrants and need to send money to avoid arrest.
Seventy-four-year-old Joe Brewer and his wife, 68-year-old Karen Brewer, said they received a call on Karen’s phone earlier this week.
“It was someone that identified their self as the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Department,” Joe said. “They had all of her (Karen’s) information. Thirty to 40 years back personal information. We had no reason to think it wasn’t legit.”
Joe said the caller stated that Karen had several warrants out for her arrest, including a bench warrant that could, quote, “be paid off with any money you can send right now.”
Karen transferred her remaining Venmo balance at the time, a little more than $93.00, to a private account with the account name ‘Joshua Allen’ and a username of “Cr-1951-1972-2023.”
A total of nearly two dozen phone calls were made back and forth between the caller and the Brewers, and Karen said she received a call not long after sending the money that it wouldn’t be enough and the Brewers needed to pay a total of $2,800.00
Karen, who is also disabled, said the phone calls eventually led to what she called stroke-like symptoms due to the fear of being arrested per the threats made by the caller if the money wasn’t paid.
“He said, ‘Make sure that you don’t tell anybody what’s going on,’” Karen said. “The more this was going on, the sicker I was getting.”
Joe said their son transferred the total of $2,800.00 to his bank account to help.
From there, Joe said he withdrew the money and was told he needed to follow some very specific instructions.
“They told me to go to a Food Lion or Ingles to a green kiosk,” Joe said. “So, I went there and found that. The person that was on the phone with me at that time gave me a set of numbers to enter in. I entered it, and they gave me more numbers. I put the money in there, and it was gone. He told me to take the receipt, put it in an envelope, stamp the envelope, and I thought that everything would be taken care of then.”
Joe said he dropped the envelope off at the courthouse, and he was also told that he would be able to show up at the courthouse at 6 p.m. to get his money back. The courthouse closes at 5 p.m., so when Joe arrived, he realized that he had been scammed.
He was able to get the letter back from the post office and report the scam to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office afterward.
Clerk of Court Amy Cox said she’s had dealings with several victims and would-be victims, totaling around five just this week alone.
“The scam attempts have been really aggressive as of late,” Cox said.
Cox also said there have been reports of fraudulent emails from individuals stating they’re from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office. Cox said if you’re receiving these calls, hang up immediately and contact the sheriff’s office directly.
Cox said the sheriff’s office would never ask for money through Bitcoin kiosks or gift cards and don’t give any personal information over the phone. Cox also wants people to be aware of public databases in which scammers can get your personal information to come across as credible.
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