Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson is warning local residents to beware a phone scam involving a suspect impersonating a police sergeant from the department.
Over the past few days, the scammer has called over a dozen residents who have prior criminal convictions, claiming in the calls that he was a “Sgt. Johnson from the Huron County Sheriff’s Office,” and that the victims would need to do a second DNA test for their past records.
After getting their attention, the scammer then attempts to have the intended target purchase a gift card with which to pay for the fake test. Once the scammer has the gift card number, money is drained from the cards and it’s onto the next target. Doing this, the caller has managed to scam victims out of at least $1,000. Two Huron County deputies did speak with the scammer yesterday (Thursday), with the scammer showing no intent of stopping the scam.
Sheriff Hanson advises those who receive such calls to hang up immediately, and to not purchase gift cards for anyone demanding that method of payment via phone or internet. He also added that the sheriff’s department would never reach out to residents in the manner the scammer did, another sign to hang up on any suspicious call.
