The Aiken County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday received three reports of phone scams in which a caller poses as a law enforcement officer and tells the victim they need to send money in order to avoid arrest.
In the first report, an Aiken man said someone claiming to be Detective James Patterson of the Aiken County Sheriff's Office called her and said she missed jury duty, according to a sheriff's report. The caller told her she needed to wire $100 to avoid being arrested. A deputy called the number, and the person who answered, still claiming to be with the Sheriff's Office, hung up when the deputy told him no one with those names works at the Sheriff's Office.
In the second report, an Aiken woman said she received a call from someone claiming to be an officer who said she had a warrant in her name and she needed to come to the Sheriff's Office lobby to pay a fine or she would be placed in jail, police said. An officer tried to call the number back but it had been disconnected.
In the third incident, a caller again claiming to be with the Sheriff's Office called an Aiken man and told him he missed jury duty, and that a warrant for his arrest was issued, police said. The victim said the call was dropped at that point. An officer tried to call the number but received no answer, and the voicemail had not been set up.