LAWRENCEVILLE — Phone scammers are back at it in Gwinnett County, and the sheriff's office says the callers are using the same routine they always have, getting citizens to fall for their tricks.
Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Shannon Volkadov said in an email statement issued this week that the department has received 14 such reports over the past two weeks. Three of the victims paid the suspect $1,000 each and a fourth victim paid $2,000.
Volkadov said the scam follows a routine similar to others that have been reported around the region in recent years. The victim receives a call from someone claiming to be from the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office. In the most recent cases, the caller has been identifying himself as “Sgt. Boyd” or “Detective Boyd." The caller informs the victim that he has failed to respond to a jury or court summons and that a warrant has been issued for the victim's arrest. The caller then offers the victim an opportunity to avoid arrest by paying a fine over the phone using a reloadable debit card, usually directing the victim to a Kroger or Food Lion store to purchase multiple reloadable debit cards to pay fines..
Once the reloadable debit cards have been purchased, the scammer directs the victim to provide the scratch off account numbers located on the back of the debit cards. Once these numbers are provided to the caller, the scam is complete. Volkadov said the caller often keeps the victim on the phone for two hours or more during the transaction and instructs the victim to bring proof of the debit card purchase to the sheriff’s office or courthouse for reimbursement.
Volkadov emphasized that no law enforcement agency ever contacts a citizen by phone to request payment for any service.
She said any Gwinnett County citizen who has received a suspicious call should document the caller’s name and the originating phone number and then file a report with law enforcement. In Gwinnett County, victims may contact the Investigative Services Unit at 770-619-6655 to file a report.
