The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office wants to make the public aware of several phone scams being used in the area. The callers will portray themselves as law enforcement officials, then ask the victim to obtain a Green Dot card to pay a fine for various reasons. The victim may be told they have missed jury duty and there is a warrant for their arrest that will be served unless they can obtain a Green Dot card. Once they have obtained the card they are told to call back with the pin number.

Another scam is to ask victims to cover the jail bond for a family member that has been arrested in another county or state. Most recently some victims have been told a family member did not pay all the taxes they owed and again would go to jail if a fee was not paid to the caller.

These types of scams are occurring throughout the country and the FBI has additional information listed on their web site at www.fbi.gov/scams-safety. If you receive a call of this nature, where you are asked to obtain a Green Dot card for a large amount of money, please contact Law Enforcement within your jurisdiction.

Call Beaufort County Dispatch at 843-524-2777 or Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC (1-888-274-6372) or text: TIPSC to CRIMES (274637) or visit www.sccrimestoppers.com.