Lincoln Police say a 38-year-old woman lost hundreds of dollars in a telephone scam over the weekend. LPD Public Information Manager Erika Thomas says the caller got a voice message from someone claiming to be a Lancaster County Sheriff’s deputy.
“The caller claimed the victim failed to report for jury duty and now owed $1,842 regarding a contempt of court fine,” Thomas says. “The victim followed the provided instructions for payment prior to contacting police.”
Thomas says the phone number the scammer used is not a working number and the case remains ongoing. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Ben Houchin says his department has investigated about 20 of these cases in recent months, with some victims losing as much as $25,000.
He says scammers will go to their website and find deputies names before contacting victims. He stresses that the sheriff’s department will never ask anyone to purchase cards and ptovide the numbers to pay off a fine. He says it you get a similar call and are suspicious call the sheriff’s office to report it. The number is 402-441-6500.