McHenry County Sheriff's Office Warns of Telephone Scan

The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office warned Thursday of a new telephone scam being used against the citizens of McHenry County in which someone posing as a “process server” from the Sheriff’s Office attempts to obtain the phone target’s personal information.

Recently, a resident received a call identified as originating from 815-338-2144 by caller ID. The caller claimed he was a Civil Process Server with the Sheriff’s Office and asked the homeowner if he or she would be home at a certain time to be served a subpoena, according to a news release.

The resident reported that the caller had a Middle Eastern accent and there was a lot of background noise, similar to what a call center might generate. The resident hung up without providing any information.

The 815-338-2144 number is in fact a number associated with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, but new technology allows scammers to manipulate systems so they can program what telephone number they want to appear on a caller ID.

It is not the practice of MCSO Process Servers to contact persons by telephone and ask for personal information. If you believe there might be paperwork that needs to be served to you, please contact our Civil Process Division at 815-334-4720.

This is a scam being perpetrated by very sophisticated criminal organizations and are nearly impossible to track.

"We encourage the public to not provide any personal information via telephone,” Sheriff Bill Prim said. “If you do receive such a call we suggest you immediately hang up and notify your local Police Department to report the incident.”

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