A flurry of phone scams has targeted Orange County residents in the last several months, according to Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood. Blackwood says the most recent victim lost more than $2000.

“She received a call claiming that she had missed her jury notice and that she needed to pay a certain amount of money to avoid arrest,” Blackwood says. “They told her that they could make the process very simple for her if she just gave them her credit card and routing information. And they did that, and they bled her account.”

Blackwood says his office has received hundreds of calls from residents who received similar predatory calls.

“They vary from the threat of taking you to jail for unserved warrants,” he says, “or taking you into custody for failing to appear for a jury summons, failing to pay your IRS taxes….”

Some calls also claim the recipient has won prize money. But what the all the phone calls have in common is that they all ask for personal information.

“Whenever they ask you for your credit card information, your bank account information or any other personal information that you wouldn’t ordinarily give to someone on the street, you need to hang up and not go any further with the conversation,” Blackwood warns.

Blackwood says residents who believe they’ve been the target of a phone scam should file a report with the sheriff’s office.

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