Phony Sheriff's Deputy Nearly Defrauded Whitefish Bay Woman Out of $4,000

WHITEFISH BAY, WI -- A Whitefish Bay woman was nearly defrauded out of thousands of dollars in a telephone scam that involved a phony deputy from the Milwaukee County Jail.

According to the Whitefish Bay police report, a woman came into the police station just before 2 p.m. on Dec. 23 to report a telephone fraud.

She told police she received a phone call from a person posing as a deputy from the Milwaukee County Jail stating that her grandson was in an accident, and arrested because they found drugs in the car.
The phony deputy said he now needed $4,000 in bail money.

The woman reportedly traveled to Best Buy and got $4,000 in gift cards as instructed by the phony deputy, but when she returned home to relay the gift card information to the imposter, she found that her grandson was, in fact, at home.

At that point, the report states, she realized she had been scammed and went to police to report the incident.
Police are investigating the case.

Scam is going around

Earlier in December, Patch reported that According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff's office, an unknown suspect has been calling Milwaukee County residents over the past couple of days and identifying himself as a sheriff’s deputy from the Sheriff’s Office.

The scammer advises the victims that they have missed jury duty and have to pay a fine or face arrest.

The Sheriff’s Office does not call citizens regarding jury duty, or call to threaten arrest for failure to pay fines.

If you have been victimized by this scam, please call the Milwaukee County communications center at 414-278-4788 to report it.

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