PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT- PHONE SCAMS

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT- PHONE SCAMS

May 20, 2021

El Paso, TX – The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office continues to receive calls from El Paso citizens harassed by scammers impersonating various local entities in an attempt to monetarily defraud their victims.

Entities include Sheriff’s Office, Social Security Office, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Office, El Paso Electric, Internal Revenue, the El Paso District Clerk’s Office and various non-profit organizations.

The scammer/offender identifies themselves as a representative from any one of these organizations and then claims that the individual/victim has ignored one of the following: Social Security investigation, jury duty summons, unpaid tickets, warrants or court summons. The individual/victim is then advised they must make a payment to resolve the matter.

In cases where a payment is requested, the VICTIM is told to buy Money Trax cards or gift cards for varying amounts to resolve the matter. After the VICTIM purchases the money cards, the scammer requests the serial numbers displayed on the money cards so that the warrant can be taken care of. Those numbers are then turned into cash by the scammer depriving the victim of the money.

The Sheriff’s office would also like to remind citizens that they will never be contacted by phone requesting payment for missed jury duty summons, unpaid tickets, or outstanding criminal warrants.

Additionally, citizens are encouraged not to exchange any personal or financial information over the phone.

The public can call the Sheriff’s Office Warrants Unit to confirm if there is an outstanding warrant in their name by calling 915-546-2214. For any matters relating to jury duty please contact 915-546-8102.

If anyone has been a victim of these scams, please contact the proper authorities. El Paso Police Department non-emergency number is 915-832-4400 and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency number is 915-832-4408