Two separate fraud reports filed with the Lawrence County Sheriff\u2019s Office show just how convincing modern scammers have become \u2014 and how quickly victims can lose thousands of dollars before realizing something is wrong.<\/p>\n
One case involved a fake computer crash warning.<\/p>\n
The other involved a fake sheriff\u2019s deputy threatening arrest over missed jury duty.<\/p>\n
And deputies say both scams follow patterns that are becoming increasingly common across the country.<\/p>\n
Deputies first responded to a home in Chesapeake after an elderly woman reported being scammed through a fake computer support scheme.<\/p>\n
According to the report, the woman received what appeared to be an \u201cHP crash notification\u201d on her laptop instructing her to call a support number for assistance.<\/p>\n
After calling the number, she was allegedly told her computer had serious issues and that a \u201cfraud department\u201d representative would contact her on her landline phone.<\/p>\n
Investigators say the caller convinced the woman he could repair the computer remotely.<\/p>\n
Then came the money requests.<\/p>\n
According to the report, the victim was instructed to travel to stores including Lowe’s and The Home Depot and load thousands of dollars onto gift cards.<\/p>\n
Before the scam was over, she had reportedly purchased:<\/p>\n
for a total loss of approximately $7,500.<\/p>\n
Deputies collected receipts and seized the victim\u2019s laptop in hopes investigators may be able to recover digital evidence connected to the scam operation.<\/p>\n
In a second incident, deputies responded to Sam’s Club after a woman reported receiving a frightening phone call from someone claiming to be a deputy with a sheriff\u2019s office in Florida.<\/p>\n
According to the report, the caller told the woman she had missed jury duty and now faced:<\/p>\n
The caller allegedly claimed she owed more than $6,000 in fines and court costs.<\/p>\n
The woman explained she had moved out of state months earlier and did not believe she had ever received a jury summons.<\/p>\n
But the scammer reportedly had an answer ready for everything.<\/p>\n
According to the report, the fake deputy claimed someone had signed for the jury notice and told the woman she could \u201cfreeze the charges\u201d by posting a bond payment immediately.<\/p>\n
Fearing arrest, the woman complied and sent $500 through Cash App.<\/p>\n
Only later did she realize the call was a scam.<\/p>\n
The Portsmouth Police Department warned residents about a scam in which callers spoof the department\u2019s dispatch number and pose as detectives demanding payment for fake fines. The scammers threaten arrest warrants if victims do not pay immediately over the phone. Police emphasized they never collect fines by phone and urged residents not to give out banking or card information to unsolicited callers. They also suggested calling them, or any company being represented, independently for verification.<\/p>\n
Deputies say scammers often rely on:<\/p>\n
to stop victims from thinking clearly.<\/p>\n
The scams are especially effective because criminals:<\/p>\n
Real computer companies:<\/p>\n
If your computer suddenly displays:<\/p>\n
it is often a scam designed to panic you.<\/p>\n
Real law enforcement agencies:<\/p>\n
Scammers commonly use:<\/p>\n
to pressure victims.<\/p>\n
Experts recommend:<\/p>\n
Victims should also:<\/p>\n
Because once scammers get access to:<\/p>\n
they often keep trying for more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two separate fraud reports filed with the Lawrence County Sheriff\u2019s Office show just how convincing modern scammers have become \u2014 and how quickly victims can lose thousands of dollars before realizing something is wrong. One case involved a fake computer crash warning. The other involved a fake sheriff\u2019s deputy threatening arrest over missed jury duty. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":104638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"post_subtitle":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"2","parallax":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"ago","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"150","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-715","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[286],"tags":[103,111,28057,97],"yst_prominent_words":[965,12944,2335,3332,1224,946,15756,2272,12939],"class_list":["post-104637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-safety","tag-crime","tag-lawrence-county","tag-lawrence-county-sheriff-logs","tag-southern-ohio"],"yoast_meta":{"yoast_wpseo_title":"Fake Tech Support and Fake Deputies Cost Local Victims Thousands in Growing Scam Trend - Scioto County Daily News","yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","yoast_wpseo_canonical":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/fake-tech-support-and-fake-deputies-cost-local-victims-thousands-in-growing-scam-trend\/"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104637"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciotocountydailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=104637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}