Recently, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office has received several calls regarding a phone scam where the caller is identifying himself as Captain Shawn Harris. The scammer informs the residents that they have missed appearing as a juror on a certain date in Wayne County and that an Order for Arrest has been issued against them. The person identifying himself as Capt. Harris is then advising the resident that he (Capt. Harris) can assist the resident with avoiding arrest if the resident will pay a fine up front and send a certain amount of money.
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office does have an employee by the name of Captain Shawn Harris but our Captain Shawn Harris DOES NOT and HAS NOT made any calls such as this. This is an imposter that is making these calls. Individuals that commit these types of fraudulent calls know how to “spoof” a telephone number to make it look like a legitimate telephone number (spoofing allows scammers to seem as if they are calling you from a local number, a trusted business, or a government office such as a law enforcement agency.)
If you receive a call such as this, and a request for money or gift cards is made to prevent you from being arrested, hang up on the person. Someone is attempting to instill fear in you and by using this fear, convince you to send money to this person. Rest assured, any money you send as a result of a telephone call such as this will be money you will never see again.