SWEETWATER COUNTY — Sweetwater County Sheriffs Office (SCSO) deputies have recently received several complaints from people who have received a phone call from someone claiming to be a deputy with SCSO.

These scammers have spoofed the sheriff’s office phone number of (307) 922-5300. They are claiming to be local deputies who are calling about an arrest warrant for failure to appear as a character witness at a hearing for a sealed case. The scammers then threaten to have the call-taker arrested at their current GPS location unless they pay a bond in the form of a prepaid debit or credit card.

This is a scam. Do not give these scammer any money, in any form, and not not volunteer any of your personal identifying information over the phone. Please just hang-up, call the agency they claim to be from back directly, and ask for the person who said they were calling you.

While these types of scams can be very convincing and difficult to recognize, this is not how Sweetwater
County Sheriff’s Office handles bench warrants. In most cases, we won’t call you ahead of time about a
warrant for your arrest. Instead, we visit you in person. And, we never demand direct payment from you to
resolve your warrant. Sweetwater County isn’t the only county to experience these calls. The Uinta County Sheriff’s Office reported a scam similar to this month.

The Federal Trade Commission states that “a caller who creates a sense of urgency or uses high pressure tactics is probably a scam artist.” Other types of scams include a “refund” or “warranty” scam call when someone calls to ask you if you were happy with a service. When you say you weren’t, the scammer offers a refund. Instead of of returning money into your account, they withdraw money. Scams are more common today than ever and we urge you to educate yourself before they target you and your family.

If you have a direct concern about this ongoing telephone scam, or if you have given any form of money or gift cards as a result of this warrant scam, please call the Sweetwater Combined Communications Center at (307) 362-6575 or (307) 875-1400 to speak to an officer or deputy on duty.

For a complete list of the most current and common scams including COVID-19 scams, please visit the
Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer information website.