BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is warning locals in the area about a potential scam that has popped up in the past week.
Two residents have lost a combined $75,000 after callers pretending to be BCSO officials demanded payment for false charges, according to a social media post.
BCSO said the first report came on August 26 after a victim told deputies he received a call from an official-looking phone number, which appeared to be from the Sheriff’s Office.
A follow-up call from the victim showed this was a spoofed number.
Two scammers, who identified themselves as “Wade” and “Captain Wine,” told the victim he had missed federal jury duty and needed to pay fines of $100,000 through Bitcoin to avoid arrest.
The suspects then sent several fake documents to the victim, the post said.
These included a federal arrest warrant, a citation notice falsely signed by the governor and a document claiming to detail instructions for resolving jury duty non-compliance.
The documents illegally used the Sheriff’s Office letterhead and patch.
The victim received a follow-up call from a second number, the post said. The scammers on this call identified themselves as “Lieutenant Moore” and “Captain Moore #1739″ to use a secret code during the transaction.
According to the post, the victim realized this was likely a scam once the funds were sent and reported it to BCSO.
On August 31, a similar experience happened to a second victim.
She told deputies she had received repeated calls from individuals claiming to be from the Sheriff’s office over the course of three days.
The scammers said she had failed to appear for jury duty and that there was an active warrant out for her arrest. She was asked to pay
She was sent several documents, which looked official, that had case numbers such as 221-CV-7148, 221-CV-6636 and 221-CF-9236, the post said.
Because she feared arrest, she paid the sum of $65,000 from her bank and deposited it into a Bitcoin account over three transactions.
While she received a confirmation code for the transactions, she was unable to contact the number listed on the Bitcoin kiosk.
BCSO said they are investigating both cases.
The Sheriff’s Office wants to remind the public of some important safety reminders:
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BCSO will never demand payment over the phone
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Law enforcement does not ask for Cash App, gift card, wire transfer, Bitcoin payments or any other electronic methods
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You will never be asked to avoid arrest by making payments
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BCSO will never pressure you for an immediate payment
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Arrest warrants can only be cleared by going in person to the Bexar County Jail or the Courthouse, not by paying through an ATM or cryptocurrency deposit
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If you receive a call like this, hang up immediately and report the fraud call to BCSO Dispatch at 210-335-6000
This is the fourth report of scammers pretending to be law enforcement reported in the nearby area in the past two weeks.
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