May 10, 2021 – Washington Co., WI – Last week one of our Facebook friends alerted us to another scam that specifically targets Washington County residents. The fraudulent caller used broken English and claimed to be from the “Sheriff Schulteis Office” and threatened legal action and arrest if the recipient did not press No. 1 for the “care department.”
This is unquestionably a scam intended to cause fear and steal your money.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office will never call you to solicit financial information to resolve an arrest warrant. There are times when individuals legitimately owe money for outstanding fines and are in custody.
Those individuals may reach out to family members to post bond, but you would be speaking directly to that individual to make those arrangements. The sheriff’s office will never take payments over the phone in the forms of gift cards or electronic debits to checking accounts.
If there is any doubt, look up our contact information yourself and reach out to us directly.
Sheriff Schulteis said of the callers, “It is absolutely infuriating to me the low levels these criminal enterprises will descend to in an effort to financially prey upon hard working citizens. The number one way to stop these financial criminal predators is to eliminate the opportunity for gain by having an educated public hang up the phone”.
The sheriff’s office has experienced success in bringing justice to victims when the suspects are located within the United States. We have several logistical enforcement challenges when the suspects are located in a different country; cutting off the supply of victims is critical.
Thank you to our Facebook friends for bringing this to our attention.