Scammers Posing as Sheriff's Office Employees Steal Bitcoin

Angelina County Sheriff Tom Selman is warning residents about a rising trend of phone scams targeting them through calls from people posing as sheriff's department employees.

The scammers use spoofing technology to make the sheriff's office's official telephone number appear on the recipient's caller ID and threaten victims with arrest, telling them they failed to appear for jury duty or court. They then pressure victims to pay money to avoid arrest.

Selman said that one person recently lost $35,000 by putting cash into a local Bitcoin kiosk after being scammed over the phone, while another woman brought $10,000 in cash to the sheriff's office to pay because she did not know how to operate the machine. The victims were kept engaged with pressure tactics while they traveled to the kiosk and put money into it.

Once the money is entered into a Bitcoin machine, it can be transferred electronically overseas within a day, making it difficult for law enforcement to recover the funds.

Selman said that many of the scammers call from out of state and use technology to hide their identities, which makes the cases challenging to investigate. He also noted that tens of thousands of dollars have been lost by people in the area due to these scams.