Police warn of scam hitting teachers in Westmoreland County
GREENSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) - Imagine being at work and getting a phone call from law enforcement saying you missed jury duty and you need to pay a fine right now.
State police in Westmoreland County say it has happened to at least six people, and the victims have all been teachers.
It's called the Wayne Farley scam because the person on the phone says he's a law enforcement officer named Wayne Farley and the victim needs to come up with a lot of money fast to pay a fine for missing jury duty.
The person on the other end of the phone says he works for the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office and he's asking victims for $1,000 but will only accept one type of payment method.
Trooper Steve Limani says the victims have been told, "You need to leave the school immediately, get in your vehicle, drive to a gas station, get these things called a Green Dot card. They tell you to meet at the courthouse but on the way, they say, 'just to save you time, just pull over and just give us the numbers on the card.'"
So far the alleged scam has taken a half dozen victims' money, including one in the Hempfield Area School District.
In one case, a worker at a Sheetz in Youngwood knew of the Green Dot scam and told one potential victim to hang up. Also, there's no one named Wayne Farley working for the Westmorland County Sheriff's Office. What's more, when it comes to paying fines, Limani says anytime someone is asking for gift cards, that's an automatic red flag.
State police say the name Wayne Farley is being used across the U.S. by scammers and it's likely the scammers are not local. State police also believe there are probably a lot more of Wayne Farley's victims out there.