ON YOUR SIDE: Laclede County Sheriff’s Office warns of scam, woman speaks out after getting a call

LACLEDE COUNTY, Mo. (KY3) - The Laclede County Sheriff’s Office is warning people of a scam involving its office.

“He was so intimidating and believable,” said Melissa Hilton, a woman who received one of the calls.

Hilton lives in Laclede County. She was at a conference this week in Kansas City when she got the disturbing phone call.

”He had told me that I had been subpoenaed on December 7 at 1:32 p.m. and gave me the case numbers for that. It was a federal court case, and I had failed to appear on the subpoena. He told me that I would be arrested and that there were two warrants for arrest one for failure to appear and one for contempt of court. That the process servers had certified that the subpoena had been served,” said Hilton.

It is a scam going around Laclede County. The caller is likely using an app to spoof the phone call and make it look like a Laclede County Sheriff’s Office number, and the caller is doing it with the push of a button.

“There are so many that we tend to go through, it just cycles through. They’re calling, identifying them as a deputy employee in the sheriff’s office and actually using the name of the former employee that worked here prior to me coming into office,” said Sheriff David Millsap.

Real sheriffs say do not be fooled. They will not call ahead if you have a warrant. You cannot take care of the matter over the phone.

”We’re certainly never going to ask you to pay through a gift card or make any type of payment because we’re not in the payment business,” said Sheriff Millsap.

Make sure you’re on both ‘No Call’ lists.

Federal Do Not Call:

1-888-382-1222 https://www.donotcall.gov/

Missouri Do Not Call:

866-No Call 1 (866-662-2551) https://ago.mo.gov/civil-division/consumer/no-call

Try an app.

Consumer Reports says to try: Nomorobo, Hiya, Mr. Number, RoboKiller, and YouMail. For a landline, try a call blocker, it’s a small device you put next to your phone. Those can cost anywhere from $20-$100, but it might be worth your peace of mind.

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