PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. – Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office detectives are encouraging the public to be on alert to a recent phone scam occurring in Pinellas County.
According to detectives, the suspect identifies himself as an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee working with the Pinellas Sheriff’s Office regarding a warrant, to collect money they claim is owed to the government. Victim’s caller IDs display (727) 582-6181, a phone number assigned to the Sheriff’s Office. The suspect may know the victim’s name, a family member’s name, and the address of the person being called. Scammers often trick victims into thinking the call is legitimate by “spoofing” or disguising the caller ID number to display a known or trusted source.
Detectives say there have been multiple incidents where Pinellas County citizens have been targeted using this scam.
In previous phone scams, suspects have instructed the citizen to go to the nearest store to purchase gift cards or pre-paid debit cards. The suspect would instruct the citizen to provide the numbers on the back of the card and claim that the warrant will be purged from the system once the money is paid.
***Please note: The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office will never call citizens requesting money over the telephone. Detectives advise citizens to not give personal information or account information over the phone, and call the Sheriff’s Office to report suspicious activity.
If anyone has information on this scam or has become a victim they are asked to call the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office at (727) 582-6200.