Woman Loses $28K After Scammers Pose As Allegheny Co. Sheriff’s Office

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA — Authorities are warning residents about a potential new scam after a woman recently sent nearly $30,000 to someone claiming to be a commander with the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office.

In a statement released Wednesday, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office said the victim received a call last week from a person claiming to be Commander Leo O'Neill, who oversees the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office courts division.

During the call, the person told the victim there were active warrants for her arrest and that she needed to withdraw money and take it to two Coinstar machines to convert the cash into cryptocurrency. The victim complied and converted just over $28,000 using the machines, authorities said.

According to authorities, the victim's caller ID indicated the call was coming from the sheriff's office.

The victim also told police there was no information on the receipts from the machines to indicate where the crypto was being sent.

The woman reported the incident to Mulhall police, who contacted the sheriff's office.

In the statement released Wednesday, the sheriff's office said people can avoid scams by remembering the following:

• The sheriff's office never discusses warrant information over the phone.
• The sheriff's office will never request payment of any kind over the phone.
• The sheriff's office will never use electronic transfers or payment apps like Venmo and Zelle to request payment.
• The sheriff's office will never request that payments be made in the form of cryptocurrency.
• The sheriff's office will never direct a person to use any payment kiosk

"We empathize with the fact that being told over the phone that you risk being arrested is upsetting and stressful, but it is exactly that feeling of stress that the scammers are using to convince victims to do something that would never take place with legitimate law enforcement procedures," the statement read.

Anyone who receives a call and thinks it could be a scam should contact the sheriff's office at 412-350-4700.