COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — “Just be aware. Just be aware of what’s going on,” Bonnie Garrett said.
Garrett found out through Facebook what police said is happening in Collierville.
“People who are, you know, calling your number saying they are from the Collierville Town Hall,” Garrett, who lives in the Shelby County town, said.
According to police, scammers are threatening residents with jail time for allegedly skipping out on jury duty or failing to pay court fines.
Officers told WREG the bad guys are using fear to force community members to pay money.
“It angers me,” Garrett said. “In today’s society, that’s what a lot of people play off of is your fear.”
If you get one of those calls, police advise you to hang up the phone and call the courts directly to figure out what is going on.
“Before you know it you’ve been victimized,” Collierville Police Lt. Ben Wardlow said.
Wardlow revealed scams similar in nature had hit the area before.
Residents are warned that even if the caller ID shows a number for the courthouse, do not trust it.
“No government entity, no police department, or court, or anything else is going to contact you via phone and request you to go get a prepaid debit card to send them money,” Lt. Wardlow explained.
Police said scams like this make them angry, but they are doing what they can to make sure people living in the town are not victimized.
“Criminals out there are always trying to one-up us, and we have to play catch-up for a second,” Wardlow said. “We eventually do, and once we catch on to them, we deal with them, and they move on to something else. That’s just the nature of the business.”
“Know what’s going on and be thankful that there are people out there who warn us about those kind of things,” Garrett said.
Police have received two complaints about the phone calls.
So far, no victims of the scam have been reported.
