PASCO COUNTY, Fla. – Residents across Pasco County are being warned to hang up the phone on a wave of scammers posing as law enforcement to shake people down for cash. The Pasco Sheriff’s Office issued an alert this week after receiving reports of fraudsters pretending to be agency officials to “collect fines” for missed jury duty.
According to authorities, the scammers often go to great lengths to appear legitimate.
They frequently use the names of real PSO members and can even “spoof” official phone numbers—making the caller ID look like it is coming directly from the sheriff’s general information line. In some cases, the calls show up as blocked numbers.
The pitch is almost always the same: the caller informs the victim they failed to show up for jury duty and must pay an immediate fee to avoid legal trouble. To collect the money, the scammers push for payments through digital platforms like PayPal, Zelle, or even Bitcoin.
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office clarified that these calls are entirely fraudulent. The agency does not handle jury duty notifications, nor does it ever contact citizens to demand payment over the phone for any criminal or civil matter.
Officials are urging the public to stay vigilant and remember that a real deputy will never ask for a wire transfer or a cryptocurrency payment to resolve a warrant or a fine.
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