Police: Suspect claimed to be Westmoreland sheriff's deputy in $7K scam
A man claiming to be a Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputy scammed a New Alexandria woman out of $7,000, according to state police.
The suspect told the woman in November that she could get out of a warrant for her arrest if she bought Reloadit prepaid cards. The man falsely represented himself as a deputy sheriff during the conversation, police said.
Sheriff Jonathan Held said cash or check payments on traffic-related arrest warrants must be made at the department at the courthouse. Payments are not collected for warrants for misdemeanor or felony offenses.
“We would never take gift cards as payments,” he said. “The deputies do not collect money out in the field.”
Reloadit website’s warns potential purchasers of scams and advises customers to call 1-888-633-9434 if they’ve been asked to provide Reloadit cards as a form of payment.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call state police at Kiski Valley at 724-697-5780.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
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