Phone scammers posing as sheriff’s department employees, FBI agents in Jones Co.

JONES COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - Scammers are at it again in Jones County representing themselves as Jones County Sheriff’s Department employees.

According to the sheriff’s department, this has become a regular scam attempt, as the caller tells the person answering the phone that they missed a jury summons or didn’t pay a traffic citation fine and now owe money to avoid being arrested.

JCSD says the caller tries to get the person to pay the alleged fine over the phone with a debit-style card or a cash transfer application. Once the money is transferred, the scam victim has no recourse to get their money back.

Also, the sheriff’s department received a report where the caller identified themselves as an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and threatened arrest if the individual didn’t pay the “fine amount.”

Scammers are now replicating local phone numbers and even the main JCSD phone number to make the call appear real.

JCSD says they have already had four people fall victim to these scams on Tuesday alone.

Residents are advised to just hang up on the scammers as JCSD does not call residents nor require payments of any fine or citation over the phone.

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