SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office is warning the community to beware of two phone numbers that they said are being used to scam people.
Officials posted on Facebook that the Sheriff’s Office has received a number of complaints from people saying they received calls supposedly from the Sheriff’s Office. The callers claimed the victims missed a court date or didn’t attend a mandatory jury summons and tried to leverage money from the victim, using threats of arrest or higher fines.
Two phone numbers have been reported as being used in this latest round of scamming: 217-764-8719 and 217-599-5663. Sheriff’s officials said these numbers are VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) based, meaning they are basically virtual phone numbers. They can be purchased on various websites and scammers have started using them to make calls over the Internet and pose as legitimate organizations.
These phone numbers are not legitimate numbers for the Sheriff’s Office, officials warned. Anyone who receives a call from them, or any other number claiming to represent the Sheriff’s Office, is advised not to call back on the number they call from.
They should call the Sheriff’s Office’s real phone numbers, depending on who the caller claims to be:
- For callers claiming to be a deputy, call 217-753-6666
- For callers claiming to be a detective, call 217-753-6640
- For callers claiming to be a State’s Attorney, call 217-753-6690
The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office will never request or demand money over the phone under any circumstances.
