IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – A phone scam is circulating in Johnson County that’s tricking callers into paying a fine that doesn’t exist. According to Sheriff Brad Kunkel, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office has received many reports from people who’ve gotten a call from someone claiming to be an officer and demanding payment.
The part that’s convincing is the caller ID shows the call is originating from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. They claim the citizen has an outstanding warrant and demands payment over the phone. Sheriff Kunkel says law enforcement would never make a call and demand money in regards to such a fine.
One North Liberty man fell victim to the scam when he got a call saying he missed jury duty. The biggest red flag he noticed during the call was when the caller asked him to pay via a gift card or money order.
”I go you’re in Iowa City right now? And he said yep and rattled off the address. I said okay I’ll be there in 20 minutes and we can work this out. He said if you come down here without taking care of assurity, you’ll be arrested, handcuffed, and spend the night in jail. I said are you serious? For missing jury duty you’re going to put me in jail?” said Steve Sherman.
Sherman eventually hung up on the caller, called the Sheriff’s Office himself and they confirmed it was a scam.
Sheriff Kunkel talked about how these scammers are preying on people and getting them to pay by instilling a sense of urgency and fear.
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