Several residents have contacted the Goldsboro Police Department regarding phone calls they received from someone claiming to be a deputy with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.

The caller identifies themselves as a law enforcement officer and tells the person that they have missed appearing as a juror, or they failed to perform some type of court-ordered process, and that an order for arrest has been issued against them.

They then advise the person that they can assist them with avoiding arrest if they pay a fine up front by sending a certain amount of money to them. Scammers know how to “spoof” telephone numbers, making the scam call appear to be a legitimate call from a local telephone number, a trusted business, or a government office such as a law enforcement agency.

If you receive a call and they request money to prevent you from being arrested, hang up on the person. They will tell you that you must stay on the phone with them and that you cannot hang up or call anyone.

This is a sure sign that the call is a scam. These criminals are trying to exploit the fear of citizens of getting arrested and hoping they can get money out of you before you realize it’s a scam.

Legitimate public officials will not call and threaten you with arrest instead of paying a fee immediately. If someone tries to get you to use a kiosk, a prepaid debit card, a gift card, and/or cryptocurrency (i.e., bitcoin) to pay the fee, you are almost certainly being scammed.

If you still doubt such a phone call, hang up and call your local law enforcement office and speak to an officer. If you think you’ve been the victim of a scam, contact your local law enforcement office.

If you want to learn to be a smarter consumer, call Attorney General Josh Stein’s consumer hotline toll-free within North Carolina at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM or (919) 716-6000.