STEUBEN CO., Ind. (ADAMS) – The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office is warning people of a scam where a caller demands family members of inmates at the county jail send them payments using Amazon gift cards, using the app Zelle, or other electronic payments.
They are investigating the reports that people have received calls saying inmates’ bonds need to be paid. Chief Deputy Sheriff Michael Meeks says they will not demand money in a phone call, and people who get the calls should hang up and not give any information. Who is behind the scam is not yet known.
The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office put out the following:
The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents of another ongoing telephone scam that has been recently reported. This scam involves someone receiving a telephone call from an individual claiming to be from the Steuben County Jail or Sheriff’s Office. The caller then says that an incarcerated person’s bond needs to be paid via Zelle, or Amazon gift cards, or some other form of electronic payment that can been accessed via the internet form anywhere in the world.
THIS IS A SCAM! No one from the Sheriff’s Office or the Steuben County Jail will ever contact anyone by telephone to solicit a payment for a bond or any other fees. It appears that the scammers may be monitoring the recent arrests on the Sheriff’s App and then using online open sources to locate contact numbers for family members. If you receive a telephone call from someone claiming to be from the Sheriff’s Office or the jail wanting any bond or fee to be paid over the phone, DO NOT give out any information and terminate the call immediately.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Steuben County Jail at 260-668-1000 Ext. 5150 or the Sheriff’s Administration Office at 260-668-1000 Ext. 5000. Again, the Sheriff’s Office NEVER solicits payments of any kind over the phone.
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