Colorado veteran out $17,000 after being scammed

Brian Orr is a veteran, a small business owner, and a heck of a hard worker. In fact, he works seven days a week to provide for his family, but the COVID pandemic hit him hard. Work dried up and so did his money.

"There was nothing in my account," said Orr.

Fortunately, he got a PPP loan from the federal government which was eventually forgiven.

"Thank goodness because that was the difference between me being unhoused and being a working contractor," said Orr.

He's celebrating his 20th year in business, but just last month he almost lost everything again. It began with a phone call.

"Why is this guy calling me? I don't understand I'm confused," Orr says he thought at the time.

He says the man on the other end said he was a deputy with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and that Orr had missed a court date related to his PPP loan. 

He said Orr needed to send him hundreds of dollars to satisfy the loan or he would go to jail. They even sent him a fake arrest warrant with his name on it.

Orr panicked and sent the money only for them to tell him he needed to send them more. So he did.

"I was willing to do whatever it took to not go to jail," said Orr.

This pattern continued for a full day, but then Brian realized something didn't seem right.

"It was all the telltale signs of all the scams I had ever seen," said Orr.

Orr called the Douglas County Sheriff's Office who told him it was in fact a scam. It appears he isn't the only person who fell for a similar scheme. 

On Friday, the sheriff's office posted a reminder online that said scammers have been targeting their residents and they will never call you looking for money to resolve a situation.

Orr sent the scammers more than $17,000. It's another hurdle he will have to overcome to keep his business alive.

He and a friend are raising money for him to try to keep things together because Orr says it's probably too late for him to get his money back.

Now, he wants to make sure this doesn't happen to anybody else. 

His advice: if you get a strange phone call just hang up.

"I would love to say there is a good side to this story, but I haven't found it yet," said Orr.