Phone Scam Warning
from the Cowley County Sheriff’s Office
The Cowley County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a citizen who lives in the county. They gave the following information:
They had received a phone call from a subject who did not identify himself other than to say when they asked who it was,” Don’t you know who this is, can’t you recognize my voice?” They responded no. The caller then said,” This is your grandson.” They asked if it was Raymond and the caller said yes. The caller said that he had been arrested and was in jail. At one point he even told them, when they asked, where he was in jail, he replied Winfield. The caller ID showed a block number and they did not get the phone number he was calling from before the call was terminated.
Later, they received another phone call from a subject identifying himself as Shawn Carver who claimed to be an International Bondsman. To get Raymond out of jail, they were told they needed to wire $2000 to a subject named Elizabeth Roy and were given the information where to wire the money.
They became suspicious and came to the Sheriff’s Office to report this. They gave the Sheriff’s office the number Carver gave them to call and it was tried. A college student answered the phone and denied any knowledge of a subject named Carver or anything about being a bondsman. He also stated this is not the first call he is gotten like this. The area code came back to Montréal, Québec. All information and evidence points to this being a scam similar to others tried where a phone call was received and the caller states a relative has been in a bad accident, is in the hospital and they need money for the medical treatment.
A couple of tips when receiving calls like this:
If someone calls and says, don’t you know who this is, tell them no and ask for a name. If it is truly a relative they’re not going to be offended and will tell you their name. If it is not a relative such as this incident, it is likely they won’t be able to give you a name and will abort the effort.
If you receive a call like this and are skeptical, call the local law-enforcement agency in your jurisdiction or area and they can check to verify if someone has been arrested or in an accident.