Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – June 11, 2024 – A 76-year-old Jonesboro woman got a call from someone claiming to be the account manager for her mortgage company.

According to the police report, the man told the victim that her mortgage company had recently sold her mortgage to the company that he represented. He told her that she was behind on her payments and he instructed her to pay $10,000 on her account.

The caller told the victim to send the money via a bar code that was sent to her email address. She did.

A short time later, she contacted her mortgage company. They did not sell her mortgage. She had been scammed.

Craighead County Sheriff Marty Boyd told JRN that there’s also been an uptick in callers claiming to be Craighead County Deputies. They use the name of a real deputy (easily found online), and they use a phone number that appears to be local. These scammers tell the citizen that they were supposed to appear for jury duty.

They will then say that the victim can avoid being arrested if they will pay a fee. The message to the victim is clear: pay the fee or you will be taken to jail.

A Jonesboro woman shared her story over the weekend on Facebook. She received one of these scam calls, and she claims it was so real that both she and her husband almost fell for it.

The caller said he was with the Sheriff’s Department. He told the woman that there was a warrant out for her arrest because she didn’t show up as a juror for a federal case. He told her that 2 interns came to her house May 9th and gave her the juror papers in person, and she signed for them. Even though she knew this was incorrect, she was starting to worry.

The caller confirmed her address and email. He gave her his badge number and told her to google his name if she had doubts about who he was. He told her she could post bail to keep from being taken to jail over the weekend, and then do a Zoom call with the judge to get the charges dismissed and get her bail money back. Her husband was listening to the call, and he too was becoming convinced that the call was legit.

As her post continued, the pushiness of the scammer grew. First, the fee was “thousands of dollars,” and she was told to use Zelle to send it to a woman who supposedly worked for the sheriff’s department. He even gave her a case number. She tried to send the money. Luckily, her bank flagged it as fraud and the transaction was denied.

So, he told her to Venmo it to a different person. The bank flagged that one too. Try PayPal, he demanded. When she told him she didn’t have PayPal, he said she needed to turn herself in or officers would be at her door to arrest her. In a moment of panic, she disconnected the call…a call that had lasted more than an hour.

She said she was scared to death she was going to jail. When the scammer called her back, she told him she wasn’t sending him any money because she figured out it was a scam. He started cursing at her, even threatening to come to her home and kill her.

Fortunately, she didn’t fall for the scam. But she admits she was close. She wanted to share her story on Facebook to help make others aware.

Sheriff Boyd reminds you: law enforcement will never call and ask you to make a payment by phone.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact your local jurisdiction and ask if they are trying to make contact with you. Chances are… probably not.