Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey: Beware of Scammers Who Pretend to be a Brevard County Deputy Sheriff

IVEY: immediately disconnect from the call and contact your local law enforcement

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey released a statement regarding BCSO investigating multiple complaints of telephone scams involving perpetrators who pretend to be a Brevard County Deputy Sheriff. (BCSO image)

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey released the following statement regarding BCSO investigating multiple complaints of telephone calls involving scammers who pretend to be a Brevard County Deputy Sheriff:

It’s a scam folks because I can promise you that if the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office has a warrant for your arrest we don’t give you a heads-up by calling you on the phone so you can flee.

Currently, our agency is investigating multiple complaints of telephone scams involving perpetrators who pretend to be a Brevard County Deputy Sheriff.

The potential victim is advised they have an outstanding warrant, traffic ticket, court cost, or other crime violation that must be paid with MoneyPak gift cards or other similar payment methods and if not paid, the victim is told they are going to be arrested.

These telephone calls are well-documented scams with the sole purpose of financial gain through fraudulent pretenses and are not associated with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in any capacity.

The phone number often connects the caller to a fake “Brevard County Sheriff’s Department” phone tree, where the victim is subsequently directed to bring payment to a Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Precinct or another government location.

The suspects at times use real BCSO Precinct addresses to legitimize the scam, however, most often, the intended victim is instructed to provide the gift card numbers over the phone prior to taking the cards to one of our Precincts.

Please know that the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office does not conduct business in this fashion and wants to ensure our community that none of our personnel would ever contact you and demand money in exchange for not arresting you!! It just doesn’t work that way, so if you receive a telephone call of this nature tell them to come on and arrest you cause you need a break from work and you will be waiting at the door with your toothbrush in hand.

On a serious note, if you do receive a call of this nature, don’t be a scammer’s next victim and please immediately disconnect from the call and contact your local law enforcement agency to report the incident.

Remember…you don’t have to be crime’s next victim

– Sheriff Wayne Ivey