An Allegheny County man is warning the public about a scam call he received this week from a man posing as a detective with the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office.
James Kennedy said he received a voicemail on Wednesday from a man claiming to be “Detective Hawkins” and they were asking about a legal matter.
“It felt legitimate enough that I called back,” Kennedy told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek.
The caller said Kennedy had missed his summons for jury duty and was now facing several charges.
The scammers even texted him documents that resembled an arrest warrant, showing that he was charged with failure to appear, contempt of court and evading civil duties.
They also said he owed a lot of money.
“The original amount was $95,000, I was fined that amount and there was a way to reduce it to 10% of that. They had a very specific number, it was about $9,542, and even had pennies,” Kennedy said. “I couldn’t believe it, but I was confident it was just under $10,000, which is the only thing you can withdraw from a bank.”
That was one of the first red flags Kennedy got.
They then gave him two addresses for convenience stores on Butler Street, where he could go to a Bitcoin kiosk and stay on the phone while he drove with the money.
“I think someone could fall for this and I imagine, ‘What would happen if someone had an envelope with a huge amount of money and they arrived at a place where someone was a criminal?’” Kennedy said.
Kennedy recorded part of that phone call and told the scammer he was being recorded.
“They hung up in a split second,” Kennedy said.
The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office said these scams are quite common.
In a statement to Channel 11, the sheriff’s office said: “These types of calls happen every day and are usually accompanied by a story that the person being called has missed a court hearing or jury duty and if they do not pay money immediately they risk being arrested for contempt of court court.
As always, Sheriff Kevin M. Kraus reminds all residents that our office will never issue a warrant over the phone or request any form of payment over the phone. Our office also does NOT use any form of electronic money transfer when dealing with warrants or fines, including the use of Venmo, Zelle and other phone apps, nor do we request payments in gift cards or cryptocurrency.
Kennedy said he understands how people can be scared into thinking this is real.
“I think people are responding to that [fear]. They want a clean record. They don’t want to get in trouble,” Kennedy said. ‘If you’re not in my contact list, I won’t answer. I didn’t answer your call!”
The sheriff’s office said if you receive one of these scam calls, you should report it to their investigation unit by calling 412-350-4709.
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