Scam costs Spalding County businessman nearly $4K

SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. - The sheriff in Spalding County has a warning about a scam that could cost residents thousands. A scammer will call and explain there is an arrest warrant due to failure to appear for jury duty. But what's tricking people is the scammer uses the name of an actual deputy.

The scam cost one business owner close to $4,000.

"We had a local businessman scammed out of $3,800. He was told to deposit money on a Green Dot card and carry it to certain location and make a phone call. He transferred it while on the phone with the person scamming him. The person scamming him told him he didn't go through and to do it again," said Spalding County Sheriff Darrel Dix

What made the man believe this wasn't a scam was the name the scammer gave him. A captain who works for the sheriff's office who is in charge of fugitive apprehension. The businessman thought it was real

"If you think about it it's not hard to get these names, they’re published on the website, well known in public. It's not that difficult and it's just another way to add credibility to the scam by doing it. They're doing their research," the sheriff said.

Sheriff Dix said the sheriff's office would never call, say to put money on a credit card, and have it transferred somewhere else.

"If you get these phone calls ask the person for the phone number of agency and call them and ask for yourself," the sheriff said.

Sheriff Dix said it's hard to track down the scammers and while a lot of them do this overseas. He said a lot of the scam calls come from inside our prisons.