Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office
-Patrol Operations Bureau

PINELLAS COUNTY – The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is encouraging the public to be on alert to recent phone scams occurring in Pinellas County. The suspects are calling residents in Pinellas County and identifying themselves as a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office employee.  

According to deputies, the suspects have called multiple citizens and identified themselves as “Lieutenant Scott”, “Lieutenant Daniels” and “Sergeant Joseph Walker”. After identifying themselves as fictitious Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office employees, the suspects informed the citizens that they have an outstanding warrant and needed to pay $5,000.00. The suspects then advised the citizens that if they can’t pay the fine, they would be eligible for a “charity fund” and instead would wire $20,000.00 into their personal checking accounts, which they could withdraw and pay back.

The suspects are calling from multiple different phone numbers to include (727) 582-6200, which is the main phone number for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. There have been multiple incidents recently where Pinellas County citizens have been targeted using this scam.

PLEASE NOTE: The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office will NEVER call citizens requesting money over the telephone and will never ask for banking information to wire money. We advise citizens to not give personal information or account information over the phone and call the Sheriff’s Office to report suspicious activity. 

If anyone has information on this scam or has become a victim, they are asked to call the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office at (727) 582-6200.