Allegheny County Sheriff's Office warns of phone scams

Members of the medical community in Allegheny County are being targeted by phone scams, according to the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office.

Scammers pretending to be from the sheriff’s office are calling residents, stating they have an outstanding issue — like jury duty or an unpaid summons — that has spurred the issuance of a warrant. Scammers then ask people to pay the caller via money orders or gift cards.

Do not provide money or personal information to the caller, officials with the sheriff’s office said. Officers do not ask for money when contacting someone regarding a citation.

Officials are investigating the incident. Anyone with information regarding the caller can contact the office at 412-350-4714.

A similar scam was reported by the sheriff’s office last year. In December, officials said scammers were identifying themselves as Lieutenant Conor Mullen and telling people they have an outstanding issue and asking for money. Last August, Allegheny County police warned people of a phone scam soliciting money with threats of arrest.

At the time, officials told people who received those call to simply hang up the phone.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, phone scams may come in several forms, but all ask to pay in certain ways. Common examples are callers asking people to pay money because they won a prize, callers saying people will be arrested, people asked to make on the spot decisions or pay through money orders or gift cards.

Phone scams can be avoided by hanging up the phone, blocking certain numbers and not depending on caller ID, according to the FTC. Scammers are able to make any name or number appear on caller ID, officials said.

Phone scams can also be reported at ftc.gov/complaint.