Sheriff's office warns of phone scam in Cape County

The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office has posted an alert via Facebook about a telephone scam aimed at bilking residents out of money.

“We’ve received half a dozen calls since Tuesday morning,” Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson said.

“The scam may seem legit because the name of one of our employees is being used,” she added.

The caller, Dickerson said, attempts to lure people into giving a large sum of money, usually $1,000, upon threat of arrest.

“(The scammer) will tell you to stay on the phone until the transaction is complete,” according to a news release.

Dickerson advises her department doesn’t operate in this fashion.

“We don’t call people on the phone and tell you that you have a warrant against you,” she said, adding the sheriff’s office will not ask that money be wired upon threat of incarceration.

The sheriff’s office advises people who might receive such a message to tell the caller the nearest law enforcement agency will be immediately informed.

Dickerson said her office is actively working to apprehend the unknown scammer.