SPOKANE, Wash. – The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) is warning against a new scam circulating Spokane County phones, that asks people to call someone who is impersonating a deputy.
The recorded voice doesn’t specify what they’re looking for, and it’s not clear what the scam is targeting, which is cause for a fair amount of confusion.
Kelly Sutton’s Monday morning got off to a confusing start, after listening to a voicemail that urges whoever’s listening “to contact Lt. James Perry with the Spokane County Sheriff’s department’s Civil Service division.”
“I immediately called the phone number that they had left,” Sutton said.
She said she spoke with a receptionist after working her way through an automated phone menu, and then eventually with someone who claimed to be a Spokane County deputy.
“He asked me for my name and phone number, and said he couldn’t find me in his system,” Sutton said. “He said that maybe it was just his computer and he was going to a different monitor, so he put me on hold. Then I lost the call.”
Sutton tried calling back, but was disconnected three more times, at which point something didn’t seem right.
“My daughter told me this feels like a scam,” Sutton said.
She looked up the actual main phone line for the sheriff’s office, and gave them a call.
“As soon as I said the name of the person I was trying to reach, they said that it was a scam,” Sutton said.
SCSO Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesperson for the department, says they’ve gotten several calls just like Sutton’s, wondering if the voicemail was legit.
“If I’m not the only one getting these calls, there must be some kind of financial gain from it,” Sutton said.
What that financial gain might be is still unclear at this point, because Sutton didn’t let it progress to that point, and the sheriff’s office is still looking into Crime Check reports that have been filed.
Thankfully Sutton didn’t give up any personal information outside of her name and cell phone, and Gregory says she did the exact right thing: call the actual sheriff’s office if you think something might be fishy.
“I feel grateful I didn’t fall victim to them any more than I did,” she said. “It’s sad that society is this way today and that we have to do that, because we should trust when we hear it’s the sheriffs department of the police department telling us that we should take immediate action. Scammers bank on that.”
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office says if you’re wondering whether or not a call from any company–not just a law enforcement agency–is legit, call the phone number that you find for the company or agency the person is claiming to be from, not the number they called you from.
If it’s legit, great. If it’s a scam, the sheriff’s office says you should file a Crime Check report, or a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
In a statement to social media, the sheriff’s office says Crime Check reports will be used to track the scam, reinforcing that the Spokane County Civil Service is not leaving automated messages.
SCSO’s full statement can be read below:
“It has been brought to our attention that a scam is circulating the Spokane County area involving the Spokane County Civil Service department. Please note: Spokane County Civil Service is NOT leaving automated messages or texting citizens that they are mandated to contact our office by a Captain or Lieutenant Perry James. The phone numbers associated with these messages seem to be coming from: 509-381-6530 and 509-918-2190.
If you receive one of these automated messages or text alerts, please contact Crime Check at: 509-456-2233 to file a report. These reports will be used to track the scam.
Do Not Call the Civil Service Office or the Front Desk to report this scam. Especially the Front Desk, the phone lines are clogged with people reporting this scam.”
