CLEVELAND, Ga. – Captain Rick Kelley of the White County Sheriff’s Office wants area residents to be aware there is a phone scam that has been going on within the county.

Kelly said in a press release today that the sheriff’s office has received several reports of one scam where a person is calling citizens claiming to be Capt. Tim Chapman with the White County Sheriff’s Office. The scammer then advises the citizen that they didn’t show up for jury duty and that there is now a warrant for their arrest or there is a warrant about to be issued for their arrest unless the citizen pays a fee. The scammer will ask the citizen to get a money order or put the money on a “Green Dot” card. The scammers have been using the phone number 706-250-9798.

Another scam that is going around is that citizens are receiving calls from a person claiming to be with Publisher’s Clearinghouse or with Readers Digest. The caller is advising the citizen that they have won several million dollars and sometimes even a car. The caller will ask the citizen to send them some money such as $100 or $200 to help get the claim process started. Again the caller will often ask the citizen to send them a money order. A common number that has been showing up on this scam is 876-505-7992.

Kelley says if you receive one of these calls you can contact the White County Sheriff’s Office at 706-865- 5177 to report it. Citizens are urged not to send any money. Any money that is sent cannot be recovered. Remember if it sounds too good to be true then it is usually not true.

The White County Sheriff’s Office is following up on the jury summons scam that uses the White County Sheriff’s Office title. There is a Capt. Tim Chapman that works for the White County Sheriff’s Office. However he is not the person that is calling citizens. The White County Sheriff’s Office will never call a person and ask for money. The investigation is ongoing.

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