Criminals are defrauding thousands of Rutherford County residents

October 24, 2024 – Scammers apparently used artificial intelligence and imitated the voice of Sheriff’s Captain Will Holton to convince a resident to hand over $7,500 worth of Bitcoin to avoid a fake arrest. The scammer used the sheriff’s office dispatch number to make the fake call.

Holton said the victim received a call from someone pretending to be him telling her she had a warrant for her arrest for missing jury duty. To avoid arrest, the caller persuaded her to withdraw $7,500 from her bank and not tell the teller why she needed the money.

The caller gave her a QR code and instructed her to deposit the money into a Bitcoin account. She was instructed to go to a Bitcoin ATM at a supermarket and deposit the $7,500. The Bitcoin ATM converts money into Bitcoins.

She followed instructions and then came to the sheriff’s office Wednesday to speak with Holton, who was unaware his name and voice were being used.

Holton said sheriff’s office deputies never charge money for failing to serve on a juror or for an arrest.

“If we need you, we’ll come to you in uniform,” Holton said. “Never give out your information or pay anyone over the phone with Bitcoin or any other transaction.”

Sheriff’s Detective Jesse Gammel is investigating the case.

“It is a digital currency in a digital wallet that only the fraudster has control over,” Gammel explained. “Once the physical currency was placed into the ATM and converted into Bitcoin, it was placed into the digital wallet made available to it via the QR code. Within 10 minutes, the digital currency was split multiple times through multiple transactions with multiple other digital wallets.

Gammel said it is unlikely the department will be able to return its money, but it is working on possible options to get some of the $7,500 back.

If you receive a call from the sheriff’s office number under similar circumstances, it is likely a scam.

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Source: Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office