This week, both the Hattiesburg Police Department and Forrest County Sheriff’s Office issued separate public notices to alert the public of an ongoing phone scam in the Pine Belt area.
The scam involves an individual posing as a law enforcement officer in an attempt to solicit funds from someone that the caller claims owes unpaid fines or have an arrest warrant due to a failure to appear in court. The caller claims the person will be arrested if they do not pay immediately.
The notices cited that the caller had previously used the alias “Officer Kristopher Taylor” and “Officer Taylor” with the fake badge number 4775. Two of the numbers used were 601-564-0370 and 601-329-2336.
“This is a scam,” said Sheriff Charlie Sims. “You should never give anyone your personal information, bank details or your credit card information. Also, never purchase a money card and read the numbers to an individual over the phone for a means of payment. Yesterday these scammers were claiming to be from Hattiesburg, PD and today they are claiming to be sheriff’s deputies; it’s all a ruse.”
Both the Hattiesburg Police Department and the sheriff’s office do not use phone collection services and will only accept payments in…
