Scammer posing as sheriff's deputy seeking cash resurfaces

The Pulaski County sheriff's office is again investigating a phone scam in which a caller purports to be representing the agency and demands payment for outstanding warrants.

The scam, which has surfaced on multiple occasions this year, was most recently reported Wednesday by a 66-year-old Pulaski County man who received a call from a man claiming to be sheriff's office Lt. Ron Davis and seeking $580. The caller advised the man "he would be arrested and taken to jail" if he did not pay and directed the would-be victim to get the money and "place it on an unknown type of card," according to a report from the sheriff's office.

There is no Lt. Ron Davis with the Pulaski County agency, and authorities wouldn't reach out in the way the scammer does, sheriff's office Lt. Carl Minden said.

"We do not ever ask anyone to go to a store and get a gift card, green dot card, etc.," Minden wrote in an email. "If someone calls you with a request of this nature, contact your local law enforcement agency for assistance."

Police called the number that the scammer used and got a voice mail that falsely said it was the Pulaski County sheriff's office and even advised to "please hang up and dial 911" if it was an emergency. The number listed in the report went to the same voice mail Thursday morning when a reporter called it.

Minden said police are often able to get the phone number used in the scam, but it routinely returns to a pay-by-the-minute phone that isn't traceable to whoever bought it.

The latest case is at least the sixth time in roughly the past year that authorities have received word of a similar scam. The first victim to report it was the only one who said he provided the money, though that victim never filed a formal report, Minden said.

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