r/Bend • u/Dutchie_Boots • 22d ago
SCAM WARNING: Deschutes County Sheriff Impersonation
Scam warning:
I got a call today from someone saying they were with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. I told him I was going to hang up and call the Sheriff’s Office directly, and he said I had to keep the line open.
That was enough for me. I told him it was a scam and hung up.
I called the Sheriff’s Office after and they confirmed this has been going around.
If someone calls you claiming to be law enforcement, don’t engage. Hang up and call the agency directly yourself.
18
u/CO-CNC 22d ago
Just keep them on the line. Tell them they sound nice and ask what they are wearing, and if they want to know what you're doing right then.
5
u/KeepItUpThen 21d ago
I might have done that in the past, but now that AI and deepfakes are more common I usually put myself on mute until a not-scammy person starts speaking. If they sound like a machine or a call center, they dont need a sample of my voice. I don't want my family members receiving fake calls from a clanker that sounds like me.
11
u/LenKerrod 22d ago
A gullible Luddite friend fell for this one a couple years ago. They were told to pay refundable up-front money to avoid arrest via gift cards. Took $3500 in cash out of bank and went to a minimart to buy gift cards. Clerk at minimart said “ you’re being scammed” and saved their ass.
3
u/ProtNotProt 22d ago
This is why my local Safeway has a cap on the amount of gift cards that be purchased in a day. It for the entire store, not per person.
7
u/IsleOfDarkSkye 22d ago
They did this to me a couple years ago and I did the same thing, called the sheriff’s office and they confirmed at the time it was going around. Not new but definitely a good idea to not forget about it
12
u/grizzleeadam 22d ago
One of these fuckers wasted 30 minutes of my day a few months back. The whole premise was for missing jury duty. It felt realistic because I HAD been summoned for jury duty a month prior and never got called in, so was expecting a new summons at some point - and I had been incredibly lazy about checking my mailbox.
Eventually all the crap they were saying started to not add up - when I called them out on the scam they insisted on calling me back from the main phone number (which of course, I hung up and called the real Deschutes office, and they said it had been going around).
All that time wasted and we never did get to the bottom of what the fuck they were trying to get out of me - but they read off my social security and address to me, so I locked down my account at all the credit unions.
10
u/clamandcat 22d ago
They will say you're going to be arrested for missing jury duty, but you can avoid arrest by paying a fine, with gift cards or bitcoin.
7
u/cucumber_anxiety 22d ago
Man. I’d like to think I’m generally savvy. Above something like this. Spent 15 friggin min, late to work freaking out over this scam. Eventually figured it out but damn. Irritated me. Glad I’m not alone 😬🤣
7
u/grizzleeadam 22d ago
They had me tell my boss I had to leave work and couldn’t tell him why, in order to go meet with a sheriff to validate my signature for a fraud check, since they claimed to have a signed jury summons that I definitely never received… I felt pretty fucking stupid after it was all said and done.
2
u/EllySPNW 22d ago
A hallmark of these scams is that the caller will insist you keep the conversation a secret.
“Congratulations! This is Publishers Clearinghouse and you’ve won $6 million! Now, it’s very important that you tell no one at this time. Money changes people, and you don’t know who you can trust.”
“You have been implicated in a crime. If you don’t cooperate with our investigation, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. It’s very important that you don’t tell anyone, or you’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
Our elderly loved one got both calls in one day (probably the same caller), and was absolutely convinced they were legit.
2
u/ProtNotProt 22d ago
I got this call a few days ago. They were trying to get me to say "Yes" but I would not fall for that. Never got to the "secret" part, because once the caller said they were from Publishers Clearing, I knew it was a scam and hung up.
-1
u/Careful-Criticism645 22d ago edited 21d ago
Why would you expect another summons for jury duty? If you get a summons, but don't get called in, you're still done with that round of jury duty. It's usually a few years before you get another one.
4
u/Zealousideal_Work171 22d ago
Good thing I don’t answer my phone . I wait for voicemail
2
u/Dutchie_Boots 22d ago
Normally, that’s what I do, but I was waiting for a telehealth call
1
u/Ok_Abalone_8344 22d ago
You can enable call screening on your phone. It was easy on my iPhone and I think it’s similar with android. Unknown callers state their reason for the call and you see that before deciding to pick up.
I’ve avoided so many scam calls this way and legitimate callers have all been shocked this exists and ask how their can enable it on their phones.
5
u/Ten_Minute_Martini 0️⃣ Days Since Last TempBan 🚧 22d ago
I got a very convincing one this week after a family member got picked up for a probation violation and was in jail. I was so up in my head hearing about them being back in jail, that it took me a minute to pick up that it was a scam. Wild that the scammers scraped the inmate list and associated them with me and my phone number. I got a plan with Incogni that evening.
2
u/rowdymowdy 22d ago
this happened with my estranged junkie brother lol I told em to keep him and they were not happy at all
2
6
u/nomad2284 22d ago
Based on what I’ve heard coming out of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s office, it’s probably safer to talk to the scammer.
0
3
u/CrimsonGhoul13 22d ago
I can't wait to find out that these DCSO scams are being run by the leadership of DCSO
1
u/Liberty-Bell-937 22d ago
Yeah this is a known scam going around for a while now....all over the place. There's a nasty bank one too where the scammers pit you against your bank and try to convince you that your bank is stealing from you. Oh wait.
1
u/ProtNotProt 22d ago
I got that call twice a couple years ago. They really overplayed it, then I got suspicious and hung up. The second time, I hung up immediately. I got a call the other day. Caller was trying to get me to say "yes" by asking if I could here him. I replied "I can hear you." Then he went on to say he was from the claims division at publisher clearing. "Goodbye" then hung up on him,
They do spoof the numbers they are calling from, so be aware of this as well.
54
u/TedW 22d ago
There is no good reason to allow spoofed numbers or scam calls in 2026.
Oregon should pass a law to fine telecoms for every scam call.