Will law enforcement call and demand money for a warrant?
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and over the next few weeks, I want to talk about cybersecurity a little differently.
I work in IT, cybersecurity and marketing. Instead of giving you another list of scary cyber statistics, I’m going to share some of the things I’ve seen, received or experienced.
We’re starting with the time I apparently became a federal fugitive.
I was at the CODA Fall Conference, doing my thing, talking to county officials, when my phone started ringing from a private number.
I ignored it.
Then it rang again.
And again.
Eventually, while I was literally playing blackjack at a conference surrounded by county officials, someone said, “You might want to answer that. They keep calling. It might be important.”
Famous last words.
Because when I finally answered, the man on the other end told me he was calling from the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office.
Except he wasn’t.
For about 30 minutes, though, I wasn’t completely sure.
And that’s exactly why I’m writing this.
I talk about phishing, scams and social engineering ALL THE TIME. I know the red flags.
And these guys were good.
The Call Started With a Fake Federal Warrant
The man on the phone told me he was calling from the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office on a recorded line.
He gave me his name.
He gave me a badge number.
Then he dropped the bomb:
There were two federal warrants out for my arrest.
The allegations.. I had been summoned for federal grand jury duty. The summons had gone to my previous address, someone had signed for it, and because “I” had accepted the summons but failed to appear, I was now facing two federal counts.
So, according to this very official-sounding man, Heather had apparently become a federal fugitive sometime between Monday and the CODA conference.
Fantastic.
The Missed Jury Duty Scam Quickly Turned Into a $15,000 Demand
Then came my options.
I could “civilly surrender” by paying a $15,000 bond.
Or I could turn myself in and go to jail.
Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
Then it got even stranger.
The caller told me there was a gag order on my case. I couldn’t hang up. I wasn’t supposed to discuss what was happening with anyone. I needed to leave the conference immediately and take care of the matter.
They even had me add my boss to the call so I could tell him I needed to leave because of a “personal matter.”
I’m sure his first thought was:
What did Heather do now?
Meanwhile, I’m thinking:
AM I ACTUALLY GOING TO JAIL?
And that’s the important part of this story.
Scammers don’t need you to be stupid.
They need you to be scared.
Why These Law Enforcement Impersonation Scams Work
Next, the caller transferred me to his “sergeant.”
Now I was being told to check my bank account and determine how much of the $15,000 bond I could cover. The “sergeant” would supposedly speak to the judge about lowering the amount.
Otherwise, I could surrender myself and potentially sit in jail while everyone “figured out what to do with me.”
And that’s when your brain starts working differently.
You’re not thinking about cybersecurity anymore.
You’re thinking about jail.
Your job.
Your family.
And because the caller already knows personal information about you, your brain starts trying to make the story fit.
That’s social engineering.
Fear. Urgency. Authority. Isolation.
Get someone emotional enough, and there’s a better chance that person will react before stopping to verify what’s happening.
And for a while, that’s exactly what they had me doing.
The Moment I Realized Something Wasn’t Right
A few things kept bothering me.
The biggest one?
Why was I being told to come up with $15,000 over the phone?
Then another thought finally kicked in:
Heather. Calm down. Verify this.
I started questioning what I was being told, and the story wasn’t adding up.
So I told the “sergeant”:
If I’m going to jail anyway, I’m hanging up and calling the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office myself to verify everything you’ve told me.
He immediately pushed back.
If I hung up, officers were coming to arrest me.
Okay.
I told him I work in cybersecurity and wasn’t doing anything until I independently verified who I was speaking with. If he really worked for the Sheriff’s Office, he should understand that. I’d call the official number myself and ask to be transferred back to him.
Suddenly…
They hung up.
Imagine that.
I Called the Real Canadian County Sheriff’s Office
I found the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office number independently and called.
The receptionist knew exactly what I was talking about.
It was a scam.
Her next question was essentially:
“How much did they get from you?”
Nothing.
Well…
Nothing except my sanity, my sense of security and about 30 minutes of my life.
Is the Fake Warrant and Jury Duty Scam Real? Very Much So.
The Canadian County Sheriff’s Office has warned residents about scammers impersonating law enforcement officers, claiming someone missed jury duty or another government obligation, threatening arrest and demanding payment.
Federal authorities have warned about similar schemes.
The FBI has specifically warned about criminals impersonating law enforcement, using real names or official-sounding credentials, threatening victims with arrest and telling victims not to disconnect.
Even the strange “gag order” part of my call wasn’t something these guys invented just for me. Federal authorities have documented scammers using similar tactics to keep victims isolated and on the phone.
And after experiencing it myself, I understand exactly why.
If I stay on the phone, I can’t easily call the real Sheriff’s Office.
I can’t call someone I trust.
I don’t get a few quiet minutes to stop, think and verify.
Keeping me scared and keeping me on the phone were part of the attack.
Why Did the Scammers Know My Old Address?
This was probably the part that bothered me the most.
They knew my previous address.
They knew my current information.
And I wasn’t feeding them answers.
They were giving information to me.
Later, I ran into one of the sheriffs we provide IT services for and told him what happened.
My response was basically:
“OMG. They knew where I used to live AND where I live now.”
But that’s another important lesson from all of this:
Knowing personal information doesn’t prove someone is legitimate.
Public records, social media, data breaches, people-search websites and other online sources can provide criminals with an enormous amount of information about a person.
A scammer doesn’t necessarily need to hack you to know things about you.
Sometimes, the information is already out there.And criminals are learning how to turn that information into a believable story.
Scammers Are Also Targeting Families of People in Jail
While I was talking to the sheriff, he told me about another scam law enforcement is seeing.
Criminals look at jail intake information, identify someone who has recently been arrested and then find family members.
A family member receives a call saying the incarcerated person qualifies for early release with an ankle monitor.
There’s just one catch.
Someone needs to pay for the monitor.
The family pays.
There is no early release.
There is no ankle monitor.
And the money is gone.
Law enforcement agencies around the country have warned about similar schemes involving jail records, electronic monitoring and fake early-release fees.
Different story.
Same playbook.
Find information.
Build a believable story.
Create fear—or hope.
Create urgency.
Ask for money before anyone has time to verify.
How to Verify a Suspicious Call From Law Enforcement
Here’s what I almost forgot in the moment:
Hang up.
I don’t care what the person on the phone threatens.
Independently find the official phone number for the Sheriff’s Office, police department, court, bank, vendor or government agency the caller claims to represent.
Don’t use the number the caller gives you.
Don’t let the caller transfer you to the “right department.”
Make the call yourself.
Don’t assume someone is legitimate simply because the person knows your name, address, employer or other personal information.
Most importantly, don’t let fear make the decision for you.
Social Engineering Doesn’t Always Start With an Email
We spend a lot of time talking about sophisticated cyberattacks, AI, deepfakes, phishing emails and new security tools.
But sometimes the attack is simply a phone call.
They didn’t hack my computer.
They were trying to hack me.
And for a little while, it worked.
I was scared. I questioned whether I had somehow missed something. I genuinely wondered whether I was going to jail.
I’m sharing that because knowing about scams doesn’t make anyone immune to social engineering.
I’m surrounded by this stuff every day, and I still had to get past the fear before I started questioning the story.
Criminals don’t need everyone to fall for a scam.
They just need to catch the right person at the right moment with a believable enough story.
So, if you remember nothing else from my adventure with my two imaginary federal warrants, remember this:
Panic is exactly what the scammer wants. Verification is how you take control back.
Hang up.
Look up the real number.
Make the call yourself.
Verify before you pay, click, transfer or share information.
Because scammers be scamming and they’re getting pretty dang good at it.