file photo(VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard is warning residents about a recent telephone scam that reportedly targeted a registered sex offender.
The sheriff’s office is investigating after a man on the state’s Sex Offender Registry reported getting a call from someone identifying himself as “Sergeant Kennedy” who said there was a warrant issued for his arrest because he hadn’t responded to a certified letter requiring him to report for a “secondary DNA profile.”
There’s no “Sergeant Kennedy” employed by the sheriff’s office.
To avoid arrest, the man was reportedly told he had to post $2,000 — 10 percent of a $20,000 bond — using virtual currency and a QR code the caller gave him.
After the man reportedly sent $2,000 via a bitcoin ATM, he was contacted again and told he had to sent $800 to clear up a federal warrant, the sheriff’s office said. A relative of the man contacted the sheriff’s office while headed to the Oakland County Jail to pay to money and was told it was a scam, and to top communicating with the caller.
“This is just another variant of all of the scams that we are seeing,” Bouchard said. “The common thread is someone in a purported position of authority demands immediate monetary action on your behalf to avoid an arrest or some other feared action. This is a scam. You will never be asked to provide immediate money over the phone or via similar conveyances like bitcoin or green dot cards by real government employees.”
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