SCAM ALERT: Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Warns Residents About Trending Telephone Scam
By Wayne Ivey, Brevard Sheriff // September 24, 2024
Message from Sheriff Wayne Ivey
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – If you receive a phone call from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office saying you missed jury duty and have an arrest warrant, it’s a scam folks, because I can promise you with all my heart that if the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office has a warrant for your arrest we don’t give you a head’s up by calling you on the phone so you can get a head start at running from us.
Currently our agency, along with other agencies across the state, are investigating multiple complaints of telephone scams involving perpetrators who pretend to be a Brevard County Deputy Sheriff.
The potential victim is advised they have an outstanding warrant, or other crime violation that must be paid with gift cards over the phone, Zelle, Venmo, or other similar payment methods and if not paid, the victim is told they are going to be arrested.
These telephone calls are well-documented scams with the sole purpose of financial gain through fraudulent pretenses and are not associated with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in any capacity.
The phone number often connects the caller to a fake “Brevard County Sheriff’s Department” phone tree, where the victim is subsequently directed to bring payment to a Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Precinct or another government location.
The suspect(s) at times use real BCSO Precinct addresses to legitimize the scam, however most often, the intended victim is instructed to provide the gift card numbers over the phone prior to taking the cards to one of our Precincts.
Please know that the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office does not conduct business in this fashion and wants to ensure our community that none of our personnel would ever contact you and demand money in exchange for not arresting you as that would spoil the fun since we love putting people in jail.
It simply doesn’t work that way, so if you receive a telephone call of this nature tell them to come on and arrest you cause you need a break from work and you will be waiting at the door with your toothbrush in hand.
On a serious note, if you do receive a call of this nature, don’t be a scammers next victim and please immediately disconnect from the call and contact your local law enforcement agency to report the incident!!
Remember…you don’t have to be crime’s next victim!!
– Sheriff Wayne Ivey
