A number of phone scams have been victimizing residents of Travis County. The caller claims to be an officer with TCSO or another local, state or federal agency. Scammers spoof a TCSO phone number so the call appears legitimate on caller ID. The scammer aggressively claims the resident has failed to do any number of things, ranging from jury duty to paying taxes and tells the resident he/she owes a fine that must be paid immediately to avoid being arrested.
In the jury duty scam, the scammer uses the accurate name and rank of a TCSO officer and asserts the resident has failed to show up for jury duty and owes a fine that must be paid immediately to avoid being arrested. The scammer might also pose as a local judge as a scare tactic to “settle” civil proceedings regarding active warrants and failure to appear for a federal jury summons. These scammers even include case and citation numbers that, on first glance, appear legitimate.
In another scam, potential victims have reported receiving a call from a caller ID that comes up as “Travis County Jail.” The caller states that the person’s son or daughter caused a car crash and that they are now in jail needing to be bailed out. In some instances, the scammer has even posed as the son/daughter in jail.
There is a common element in the phone scams – the caller seeks immediate payment via Apple Pay, gift card or MoneyPak. TCSO will never seek payment for anything via Apple Pay, a wire transfer, gift cards or MoneyPak.
If you receive a suspicious phone call from someone demanding payment, do not hesitate to contact us at 512-854-9770 to verify the validity of that call before giving anyone money.
These scammers are diligently being pursued by national law enforcement agencies.