KALISPELL — The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office has been busy with scammers throughout the holiday season and is warning residents not to give out personal information over the phone.
Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino said people are calling Flathead residents claiming to be Sheriff’s Office detectives and demanding a money sum to pay off outstanding warrants.
He said the most common scam being reported right now is for a jury notice warrant demanding $2,000 in payments.
Sheriff Heino notes that the Sheriff's Office will never ask for money over the phone or ask residents to pay fines in bitcoin or online gift cards.
He said the Sheriff’s Office is reporting roughly 25 calls a day from people being targeted by scammers.
Once a payment is given to the scammers, Sheriff Heino said there’s no guarantee that money will be recovered.
“Probably there’s $100,000 that we can mathematically add up that’s been taken from individuals — and that’s a lot of people’s hard-earned savings and money. And again that’s very frustrating for us, we want to apprehend those criminals, but when you’re dealing with multiple countries and different aspects of it, it’s hard to track it back.”
Sheriff Heino asks residents to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 406-758-5610 if you’ve received a call from potential scammers.
