The Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a scam operating in the Piper area.
According to Capt. David Thaxton, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Department, a scammer called a few Piper residents on Aug. 25 and gave a false name, impersonating an officer in the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department.
The scammer asked for gift cards of $500, after telling people that there was a warrant for their arrest for not appearing for jury duty.
“If you have a warrant, we’re not going to call you and we’re sure not going to ask for gift cards as payment,” Capt. Thaxton said.
The scammer gave a name with a rank of “lieutenant,” and the sheriff’s office doesn’t even have that rank, he added.
There are no reports of anyone in Piper actually paying the scammers anything, he said.
He said the Sheriff’s Department hears of scams like this at least a couple times a year. Sometimes it happens close to the holidays, he added.
The Sheriff’s Office doesn’t solicit for any money or gift cards through the telephone, he said. Occasionally they may do a news report about conducting a charitable event, but they don’t call individuals over the phone, he said.
Another scam was mentioned on Aug. 27 by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office. Scammers were posing as religious leaders in the community, asking for charitable contributions in the form of a gift card, according to a release on the attorney general’s website.
The AG’s office warned residents to be careful of emails that ask for donations of gift cards, and that come from an email address that looks different from the one that would usually be associated with that charity. Sometimes scammers make spelling or grammatical mistakes in the email.
Before making a donation, follow up by contacting the charity, looking up the phone number and not using contact information from the possible scammer, to find out if it was a legitimate request, according to the AG’s office. Residents also might want to talk to the charity’s representatives in person.