Person impersonating sheriff’s deputy scams woman out of $14K
Columbia SC July 23, 2023 A South Carolina woman got the scare of her life when an individual posing as a local sheriff’s deputy scammed her out of $14,000.
Kelly Markland and her husband Kevin were arriving at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport from vacation on Tuesday when she experienced the call that turned into a nightmare.
“And so he says, ‘Is this Kelly Markland?’ I said, ‘Yes it is,’” Markland said.
The man on the phone proceeded to tell Markland that she had missed a jury summons and was being held on a bench warrant for her arrest as well as contempt of court and another charge.
Markland said that she was then scammed out of $14,000 in payments of Bitcoin and cash.
The next day, she filed a police report to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
Now Markland is speaking out to raise awareness about the scam in her community.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott stated new technology can play a role in the recent scams.
“Technology now, they can make it the numbers show up coming from the sheriff’s department when it’s not,” Lott said. “They’re using deputies’ names that work here. They can go on our website to get the names of deputies. So they’re using things that may seem legitimate, but they’re not.”
A spokesperson with the sheriff’s department stated that this is an ongoing issue of people impersonating members of the sheriff’s department to scam residents.
Lott encourages locals to continue to stay alert for any other scam call.
AARP warns scams can appear as unsolicited calls from people claiming to work for a government agency, public utility, major tech firms and charity fundraisers. They can also appear as calls pitching products or services that sound too good to be true or automated sales calls from companies you have not authorized to call you.
Lott also advises that if you get a suspected scam call, hang up. He also says be aware of the scam cycles that fall around certain times of the year like tax season, the holidays and after disasters.
