The ‘Green Dot Money Card’ scam has now made its way to the Bay County area. It’s a scam which has already plagued parts of the Big Bend and South Georgia areas, and Bay County Sheriff’s deputies are warning residents to be careful.
Within a span of two hours and in one evening, the Bay County Sheriff’s office received four complaints alerting them to the same scam. A man claiming to be a sheriff deputy told them he had a warrant for their arrest for missing jury duty. But, to avoid arrest, they must purchase what’s called a Green Dot Money Card, or a reloadable debit card.
“He gave instructions and a phone number to call him back once they received the money card for the amount he gave them, and the amount seemed to vary among victims. And, once they got the card, they were to return the phone call to him, and tell him the number on the card, so wherever he was, he could cash it,” said Bay County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Ruth Corley.
Corley says she wants residents to know that sheriff’s deputies would never do that.
“We tell our folks here in Bay County all the time if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you are unaware that you were even requested to show up for jury duty, check it out before you pay any supposed fine you may need to pay! Call the Bay County Sheriff’s office to ask and see ‘Do I have a warrant? What can I do to resolve it?’ before you pay for anything using a gift card or money card from a discount store,” added Corley.
And, Corley says that’s exactly what the intended victims of the scam did when they called the Sheriff’s office to complain. She also encourages actual victims to come forward to help aid in catching the person responsible. So far, Corley says they know that the man is using an 850 area code to ask victims to purchase a money card and call him back.
For more news updates, follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter: @SaschaCordner.
