Fairfax County Sheriff Warns of Phone Scams

The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office is warning county residents about the return of phone scammers.

A spokesman for Fairfax Sheriff Stacey Kincaid said they thought they had eradicated the scam in April.

From the sheriff:

We would like to warn people again that we would never call asking for money or threatening arrest

Scammers, identifying themselves as deputy sheriffs, are calling residents of Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax and the Towns of Herndon and Vienna, threatening that they will be arrested unless they purchase a money card, such as Green Dot MoneyPak, or wire money through Western Union.

Usually, the scammer claims that the resident failed to appear for jury duty or did not pay a tax balance. To add to the confusion, the scammer may use the name of a real sheriff’s deputy or judge, both easily found on the official Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office website.

Please be aware! The Sheriff’s Office is in no way associated with this scam. Sheriff’s deputies will NOT call to ask you for money nor threaten you with arrest.

If you receive a threatening phone call related to jury duty or tax payments, please hang up immediately. Do NOT give out personal information such as your Social Security number, bank account or credit card numbers, passwords or any other identifying information. Regularly monitor all of your accounts and always use strong passwords.

To confirm a jury duty summons, contact the Circuit Court jury duty clerk at 703-246-7816 (press 0). For information about tax scams, visit the IRS consumer alerts page.