Natrona County Sheriff’s Office Warns of New Phone Scam

The Natrona County Sheriff's Office has been made aware of a phone scam, similar to the one used in recent months, which has resurfaced in an attempt to scare and scam people out of money.

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According to a Facebook post by the Sheriff's Office, the call comes from 307-278-4520 and claims to be "Deputy Hoffman with the Natrona County Sheriff's Department."

The caller then tries to coerce people into providing information by discussing a missed "jury duty appointment," a missed court date, or that they owe money to the "Warrants and Citations Department," after which they demand money through Apple Pay, Cash App, PayPal, or other payment methods.

The scammer has at times provided a fake case number, and/or threatened to send a deputy to the citizen's residence to arrest them.

The Natrona County Sheriff's Office does not have a "Warrants and Citations Department" and we won't contact people through the telephone to collect money or financial information.

The Sheriff's Office warns that if a caller is asking for a payment over the phone, that is an immediate red flag and that people can ask the caller to identify themselves.

Kiera Grogan, public information officer with the Sheriff's Office, said that they've had at least 4 phone calls Tuesday from citizens, either reporting this type of scam phone call or calling to verify certain information and that they have not had any reports of people falling for the scams by giving up personal information or money.

Grogan said in one instance, someone was able to merge the scammers’ phone call with a deputy on a separate line, and when the deputy spoke on the call to the scammer, the scammer immediately hung up.

A previous scam, posted about at the beginning of February, also included scammers claiming to be from the Warrants and Citations Department and also attempted to get a person's financial or personal information by pretending to be from the Sheriff's Office.

People wanting to verify information regarding warrants, court dates, case numbers, or other information can call the Sheriff's Office's non-emergency phone line at (307) 235-9282.