An Alexandria woman was scammed out of thousands of dollars last month in an elaborate scheme by several suspects pretending to be Sheriff’s Office officials.
No arrests have been made in connection with the Oct. 6 incident, in which scammers coerced the victim to deposit $4,600 into a Bitcoin ATM in Arlandria, through a barrage of texts, calls and false documents, according to a recent search warrant affidavit.
The victim told police she received a call around 8:45 that morning from a man claiming to be with the Sheriff’s Office. The man told the victim that she missed a jury summons for a federal case, that she’d signed a jury subpoena and failed to appear in court.
The woman corrected the caller by stating the address they said was hers was not correct, and that someone must have signed the documentation without her consent, according to the affidavit.
The caller then allegedly told the woman she would have to appear at the courthouse with identification and sign a document so that the signatures could be compared.
The victim also received a text message with an image of a false “United States District Court” warrant which was signed by a bogus clerk and FBI agent.
“The image was clearly a doctored image with various different texts and fonts utilized,” police said in the affidavit. “The document showed that she was summoned to appear Sept. 22-26 for a ‘murder trial,’ and listed her as the plaintiff.”
In several other texts, she received a QR code for Bitcoin depositing.
The victim then got a call from a fake “Captain Andrew McCullough” at the Sheriff’s Office, who allegedly told her she was ordered her to pay $15,000 for her lateness, according to the affidavit.
The victim told the suspect she only had $4,600 in her bank account. She later told police that she believed “Captain McCullough” was with the Sheriff’s Office, when he told her not to discuss her bank account with him over the phone.
The scammer then told the victim that the judge approved the $4,600 payment, and the victim went to the Wells Fargo Bank at 3506 Mount Vernon Avenue.
The victim “stated that she was crying before she went inside [the bank] because she was so nervous, and ‘Captain McCullough’ said, ‘Stop crying or you will appear in distress and be arrested,'” according to the affidavit.
The victim was then told to deposit the funds at the nearest Bitcoin ATM, which she found at a gas station in the 1600 block of Mount Vernon Avenue. Once she sent the funds, the scammer ended the call, she told police.
“The best way for someone to protect themselves from these scams is simply to hang up,” Sheriff Sean Casey said. “Don’t let your guard down and don’t be intimidated into providing personal details or financial information. Real deputies are not going to call you and threaten you with arrest, so just hang up if you get a call like that.”
Anyone who has been the victim of a scam should notify their financial institution and report it to their local police department. The Alexandria Police Department can be reached at 703-746-4444.
