IONIA (WOOD), Mich. – The Ionian County Sheriff’s Office is warning people about a new scam that tells victims their employers are under investigation for accepting counterfeit money.
The scam is similar to scammers posing as police officers and trying to convince victims that they have a warrant for their arrest. Scammers will tell victims to buy a MoneyPak or Green Dot card and provide them with information to pay the victim’s “deposit”.
“Once that happens, the money is gone and the real police are hard to track down because most of these scams come from overseas,” the Ionian County Sheriff’s Office said Monday. Facebook post.
In the new scheme, scammers will call businesses in an attempt to convince employees to buy cards with business money. Fraudsters, pretending to be police officers, would tell employees that the businesses were being investigated because they took “massive amounts of counterfeit money,” the sheriff’s office said.
Scammers will tell employees to take money to a store that sells GreenDot or MoneyPak cards to “test” the cash.
“These scammers are very sophisticated, and the scammer’s target often hears what sounds like a police radio communication in the background. The scammer will sometimes spoof the owner or manager’s phone number to further convince the target employee that this is a real request,” the sheriff said. said the office.
Victims will be threatened with arrest or dismissal.
If you get a call, the sheriff’s office says hang up. If you have any concerns, you can call your local police station afterwards.
The Sheriff’s Office reminds people that police will never ask for money or collect a bond over the phone.
“Remember, these scammers are very easy to fall for and lose hundreds or thousands of dollars before you even know what’s going on,” the sheriff’s office said. “Stay informed and keep your employees informed! “