Letter to the Editor: Beware of scary and violating phone scam

I felt it was important to make as many people aware of scam and psychological horror that was perpetrated on my wife just a few days ago.

My wife was not working that day and a call from El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department came into her office. The caller ID showed it was 530-573-3000 which is indeed the El Dorado Sheriff’s Department number. He told her co-workers that it was an emergency and that he needed to get a hold of her immediately and asked for her phone number. The staff placed him on hold and called my wife who agreed to give him her number. She was worried about me and doesn’t have anything to fear from the Police. Immediately after she finished with the office, caller ID rang on her cell phone, 530-573-3000, El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department.

The caller gave her his name, badge number, and explained that she had a warrant for her arrest because she failed to appear in jury duty. She explained that she lives in Douglas County so there must be some mistake. He told her that since it was a federal case both counties may have had been required to attend. He went on to explain that if she leaves immediately and gets to the Sheriff’s Dept. then she could file paperwork, get fingerprinted, and her worries would be alleviated. In hindsight this is where my wife should have realized this was just a scam and hung up, but he proceeded to badger her insisting that she leave her house immediately to avoid further problems. My wife stays at home and is raising our 8-month-old daughter so she explained that she would be willing to get there as soon as possible but she would need to feed the baby first. The drive to Tahoe is about 40 minutes.

Insisting again, he badgered her, demanding to know how soon she could leave. Was it 20 minutes? 25 minutes? 40 minutes? Because he would need to remain on the phone with her as she drove in to see the Sheriff. While he continued to pester her he then started to explain that there would be fines involved and that she would need to be prepared to pay $2,000. At this point they had spent about 15 minutes on the phone together and she explained that she did not have any money to pay a fine. He requested credit cards and she said that she had nothing. At this point he told my wife, “Then I am coming to your house (he gave her our correct home address) and I am going to take your baby.” My wife startled, responded, “You are scaring me.” Once again he gave her our address and said that he would be on his way and he is going to take the baby. Then, in so many words, he said that he could see that she was breastfeeding.

She immediately hung up, screaming and crying and made sure all the doors were locked and shades were drawn and called 911. They explained that there are scammers and this sounds like one. When the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department got to our house he used his personal cell phone to call the number that the caller ID captured on my wife’s phone, El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department was the one who answered.

Again, looking back, I wish she had recognized this as a scam right from the start but with the caller ID and the person on the line being very believable, she got sucked right in. If it was only a scam I probably would not be writing this warning, but once he threatened the kidnapping of an infant and that he was watching her, she was mortified. She no longer feels safe in our house alone and it will probably take a very long time for her to recover.

Please, if you get a call from any government agency, collections, etc. and something seems fishy, make sure to hang up and then call them back to see if it’s really them. This may help you save time, money, and worry-free comfort in your personal residence.

- Concerned Carson Valley Resident