Full Notification

PitkinAlert: Roaring Fork Valley residents are actively being targeted by individuals claiming to be from the Pitkin County Sheriff's office or one of the local police departments demanding immediate payment for an outstanding ticket or warrant. These calls are a SCAM! The scammer will call your phone using the caller ID from a local law enforcement agency and the real name of a local deputy or police officer but these are both clever deceptions that can be easily faked and exploited. The scammer might say you’ll be arrested, fined, or deported if you don’t pay taxes or some other debt right away. The scammer will demand you pay them by gift card, cash, Bitcoin, or some other untraceable method, but law enforcement will never call you demanding any sort of immediate payment. Also, law enforcement also does not accept gift cards, Bitcoin, or cash by mail as a payment method. The goal is to scare you into paying, but real law enforcement agencies will not call and threaten you, ever. How scammers pose as law enforcement: -Demanding payment for a missed court date, jury duty, or other legal matter -Claiming there is a warrant for your arrest -Threatening arrest unless you pay a fine -Directing you to buy a prepaid gift card and provide them the card number -Disguising the phone number so it appears valid on caller ID -Using the name of a real deputy or police officer Protect yourself: -Refuse to give the scammer any information -Do not send any payments -Hang up and do not trust that caller ID shows their real identity -Record their number and save any voicemails -Find the the real phone number of the law enforcement agency the scammer claimed to represent and call them back directly If you have fallen victim to a scam please immediately call (970) 920-5310 to file an official police report. If you suspect a scam but did not provide any payment or personal information please report of attempted fraud to the reportfraud.ftc.gov Para alertas traducidas, descargue la aplicación ReachWell en rwell.us/app For translated alerts, download the ReachWell app at rwell.us/app