LORAIN COUNTY, Ohio — The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a scam that has happened twice in recent weeks regarding fake warrants and court subpoenas.
According to authorities, the first incident happened with a New Russia Township resident who reported that a man called her and said she had a warrant out for her arrest.
The caller advised the resident to go to Family Dollar and purchase $3,000 worth of “vouchers” to take care of the warrant. The resident didn’t fall for the scam and hung up.
An Avon Lake resident reported a similar call. They also didn’t fall for the scam.
The sheriff’s office states that it will not try to solicit or resolve an active warrant case over the phone.
Residents are reminded that scammers may pretend to be police and say that you’ll be arrested, fined, or deported if you don’t pay a fine, the sheriff's office said.
Authorities want to remind residents that these types of scam calls are attempts at scaring you into paying. Oftentimes, the scammers will try to get you to pay off the fines with a gift card or money wire or money transfer app.
Residents are also advised that they should not rely on caller ID since phone numbers can be spoofed to look like a legitimate number. If you get a call from an agency that you are unsure of, call its non-emergency number and verify who you were speaking with.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
