Cook County Sheriff's office issues warning about telephone scam
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Cook County Sheriff's Office issued a warning Thursday about a telephone scam in which the caller impersonates a Sheriff's office employee.
The caller tells the call recipients they must pay a large fine for missing court, or else they will go to jail. The caller then instructs the victim to pay the fine using a money transferring app such as Zelle or Venmo – and warns the victim not to talk to anyone about it, because there is a gag order.
The name the caller uses matches the name of a real Sheriff's employee, so an Internet search may lead a victim to conclude it is all legitimate. But it is not.
The Sheriff's office emphasized that it does not request payments in such a manner, nor does it accept payments via transfer apps.
Anyone who thinks they might have been the victim of the scan can call the Sheriff's Police Investigation Section at (708) 865-4896, or the Sheriff's Police non-emergency number at (847) 635-1188.