Deputies with the Spartanburg County (South Carolina) Sheriff's Office report that scammers have cloned the sheriff's office phone number in an attempt to make victims pay phony fines.
Deputies told WYFF that it appears the suspect cloned the main number for the sheriff's office to make the scam appear more legitimate.
One victim paid the thieves nearly $12,000 in Bitcoin. The scammer then attempted to coerce the victim to pay more and he decided to turn himself into the sheriff’s office, where he learned that he had been scammed.
Lt. Kevin Bobo with the sheriff's office said, "We wanted to take this opportunity once again to remind citizens this agency will never call you and ask you to pay a fine via Bitcoin, Green Dot, or gift cards for missing jury duty."