Marin County residents threatened by telephone scam
MARIN COUNTY, Calif. (BCN) - A telephone scam involving fake arrest warrants is threatening residents of Marin County, officials said.
According to officials in the Marin County Sheriff's Office, residents have been receiving telephone calls from individuals telling them that they have outstanding arrest warrants due to traffic violations.
The callers then instruct the victims to pay fines with credit or debit cards, or with prepaid ones called Green Dot cards.
The callers are reportedly intimidating and threatening residents over the phone, and demanding fines be paid immediately, officials said.
Similar telephone scams are occurring nationwide, and law enforcement officials are urging residents to be suspicious of any caller identifying themselves as government or law enforcement employees demanding money.
According to county officials, law enforcement employees do not call people and demand that fines be paid over the phone.
Any residents who receive suspicious phone calls like this are urged not to provide personal or financial information to the caller.
Information about protection against telephone or email scams can be obtained from the Federal Government Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force at www.stopfraud.gov, the National Consumer League at www.fraud.org, or the State of California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General at www.oag.ca.gov.