Jessica Mathews/ news@whmi.com


Local residents are being advised of some recent phone scams making the rounds.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office says it was made aware of a telephone-based fraud scheme in which an unknown scammer is calling area residents using a phone number that appears to be local. The caller claims to be a sergeant with Sheriff’s Office and is using the real name of a current employee.

The scammer claims the resident has a warrant for their arrest and requests that they send or “wire” bond money – threatening their arrest if they don’t send the funds promptly.

This particular scammer is currently calling from (517) 701-9077 and has a voice mailbox set up misrepresenting the Sheriff’s Office.

Officials stress this is a scam and anyone receiving such a call should simply hang up and if their phone allows it, block the number.

A press release states that generally, scammers will stop calling quickly if people refuse to speak with them. It says the public should also be aware that these phone numbers are easily generated over the internet and may change many times. Also, such scammers will often use a different name or a different official-sounding agency to fit their needs and intimidate the person they are calling.

The Office says no legitimate government agency will ever request someone to use a money wire service such as Western Union, Money Gram, or Green Dot to send them funds.

If a person does receive a call from someone claiming to be a government official and is concerned that they are not legitimate, the Office advises to call a published number for that agency and ask to be transferred to that officer to confirm their legitimacy.

The Office further encourages people to reach out to any vulnerable friends, neighbors or relatives who may be more susceptible to these crimes and scams and teach them to never wire or send money to someone they do not know.