Fort Bend County Warns Residents of Legitimate Sounding Scam Impacting the Katy Area

KATY MAGAZINE NEWS

December 16, 2024

By Natalie Cook Clark

Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents of a popular scam that is impacting those in the Katy area. This scam involves bold criminals who are impersonating Fort Bend County law enforcement officers.

Scammers Get Bolder

“Scammers are getting bolder and more advanced with their tactics, and the latest scam involves fake bench warrant notifications,” says Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office officials.

With this scheme, scammers call, text, or email claiming you have a bench warrant out for your arrest. They will then demand immediate payment to “clear” the warrant through prepaid cars, wire transfers, or other untraceable methods.

To make the scam seem even more legit, they will impersonate law enforcement officers and officials with the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office. They will use spoofed numbers, but real names and email addresses of Sheriff’s Office employees.

They also do their research on the person before they call to add to the legitimacy of how the call sounds. This scam also saw a resurgence last season when a Katy resident got a call.

“I was a little nervous that it was a legitimate call,” says Maria Drews. “The guy knew that I was a physical therapist and had told me that I didn’t show up to testify in court.”

The caller claimed he had records showing that someone from her house signed for and accepted information on the court case. The Drews had a lot going on at the time so she was worried that she had signed and forgotten.

“I called a friend whose husband is a cop, he assured me that it was scam,” says Drews.

Protect Yourself from this Crime

The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office stresses that law enforcement will never demand for payment over the phone.

“If you're unsure about the legitimacy of a call, hang up and contact your local police department or court directly,” stresses the department. They also stress for residents to never provide personal or financial information to unknown callers.Residents can protect yourself from fraud by refusing to make direct payment to the scammers and to confirm with whom you are speaking.

Scammers are prone to using lies, threats, harassment, and intimidation to collect money. Take all measures to identify the company, the collector’s full name, company address and phone number, website, and email address.

Local officials stress for everyone to stay vigilant, and share this information to help protect others from falling victim.

MORE KATY MAGAZINE

Follow Katy Magazine on Facebook for more current news.

#PrimroseSchools #Town&Country