Sheriff J. Adam Shepherd would like to release the following information regarding a phone scam.

Over the weekend of July 26th and 27th, several people in Gila County received a phone call from a subject who stated he was a Deputy with the Gila County Sheriff’s Office. This subject would then claim that a member of their family had a warrant because of a traffic violation and the Sheriff’s Office was going to their family member’s home to arrest them unless they would send a green dot money pack card.

Sheriff Shepherd would like to remind everyone that the Sheriff’s Office is not responsible for the collection of fines due to the court system. The Sheriff’s Office will actively go out and try and locate subjects who have warrants but will not call family members soliciting payments for warrants.

Please take the following steps if you receive one of these phone calls:

• Ask who is calling? Get their name, call back number and agency they work for if possible.

• Ask them where your family member is? If they are in jail or the hospital, get the name of the jail or hospital.

• Tell them you will call them back and then call your family member and verify their location.

• Call the Sheriff’s Office at 928-425-4449, option 1, to report this activity to Dispatch

The Sheriff’s Office is investigating the information that was received over the weekend to try and locate the perpetrator of the reported fraud.   back...