Scammers Trick Jackson County Residents To Collect Papers From Fake “Sheriff Aaron Grissom”

JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. — The Jackson County Sheriff Oregon (JCSO) issued a scam alert yesterday, alerting the public to a new scam: Scammers leave messages that say “Sheriff Aaron Grissom” has civil documents for them to pick up and ask them to call back to schedule an appointment. At this point, they will likely ask for money.

Aside from this scam, another was discovered yesterday. Scammers send a text message about unpaid tolls, claiming you have an outstanding balance.

Previously, the messages said the tolls were in California, but yesterday, the message referred to Mt. Hood, OR, “unpaid tolls.”. The recipient is invited to click on a link in the text to arrange for payment to settle their debt. As soon as you enter your information, your personal information is compromised.

An April Oregon Fraud Fighter Summit also highlighted insurance and financial product scams. To deal with the civil paper collection and toll scams, JCSO advised citizens to:

• NEVER send money to a caller representing themselves as law enforcement. JCSO will NEVER call you to collect money and will NEVER ask for payment in gift cards or Bitcoin.
• If the text or website looks legitimate, check with the company using a website or phone number you know is real.
• Don’t use the links in the text message.
• If you have any doubts about a call, hang up, then call the JCSO official phone number (541-774-6800).
• If you click on the link, close the webpage immediately.
• DO NOT enter passwords or personal information directly into a webpage opened from a link.
• Share this information with your friends and family who do not have social media.
• If you gave a scammer your personal information, change your passwords.

More tips are available at IdentityTheft.gov, which gives the steps to take if you have been scammed.