San Mateo Sheriff's Office Warns of Scam Call Impersonating Deputy

SAN CARLOS (BCN) – The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office warned residents this week about a recent scam attempt in which a caller impersonated a sheriff's deputy and asked the victim to send a prepaid debit card.

Last Saturday, someone called a resident in San Carlos and used the name of an actual deputy with the Sheriff's Office. The caller said the victim had two outstanding arrest warrants totaling $2,000 and instructed him to go to a CVS or Walmart store to purchase a Moneypak card voucher for that amount and provide the numbers on the back of the card, sheriff's officials said.

The victim did not pay for the card and reported the call to the Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's officials said they and other law enforcement agencies will never call to make a monetary request, and that people should call their local law enforcement agency if someone says they are a law enforcement officer and requests money over the phone.