Washington County Sheriff's Office Warns of Law Enforcement Scam

WASHINGTON COUNTY, OR — The Washington County Sheriff's Office are reporting a new scam in which people are threatened with arrest, citing that they have a warrant, missed jury duty or had other financial issues.

The fraudulent person calls a citizen at random, identifies himself as a Washington County Sheriff's Deputy and tells the citizen, for example, that they had missed jury duty and needed to pay fees, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

There are also reports that the scammer will identify himself as Lieutenant Troy Stevens, Court Investigator from the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Some people reported that if they missed the call, the scammer would leave a message for them to call them back at a 503 area code phone number, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

The scammer would tell the victim that they will be arrested if they did not provide debit or credit card information to give to the court on their behalf to avoid an arrest warrant being issued.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office note that they will never call demanding money for any reason. If someone calls and attempts to convince you there is a warrant out for your arrest, you missed jury duty or have unpaid fines or fees, please call the agency directly at (503) 629-0111.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office is advising anyone who receives a call like this to report it immediately.