“Warrant Scam” Alert in San Mateo County

South San Francisco, CA   July 10, 2015   Submitted by San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is issuing a warning to members of the public that the “warrant scam” seems to be upon us. Reports have been coming in from community members throughout San Mateo County that they have received calls from a male voice claiming to be Sergeant Gregory Jacobs of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. Those receiving such calls have indicated that the calls include instructing recipients to pay money owed for supposed arrest warrants in their name(s) or they will be subject to prosecution.

The truth is that the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office nor any law enforcement agency, would never contact a member of the public over the telephone demanding they pay fees and/or any fines lest they be subject to arrest for failure to comply. Members of the public are being reminded once again to be vigilant and never provide personal information, like social security numbers or credit card information over the phone unless they themselves initiated the phone call. If you believe you were the victim of this or any other telephone scam contact your local law enforcement agency. And even you have not fallen victim but have received a call like the one described and are concerned about its validity, you can still feel free to call your local law enforcement for reassurance that it is indeed a scam and you have nothing to worry about.

Please share this information with anyone you know who might be taken in by a scam such as this. The best line of defense as it pertains to scams in general is public awareness so please do help spread the word and lets not let anyone fall victim to this erroneous scam!