The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office wants to warn the public about scammers allegedly posing as sheriff’s officers and asking victims for money over the phone.

Our agency has received several reports of a male subject, claiming to be Detective Paul Norris with our agency, asking for money to prevent them from having criminal charges filed against them. In a similar scam, victims are asked to send or wire money in order to bond a family member out of jail. In most of the complaints, the suspect appears to be calling from a legitimate working telephone number.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office does not have a detective by this name and our agency or any other agency would NOT ask for money over the phone for this reason or for any other reason.

The Sheriff’s Office wants to remind the public to never give financial information or debit/credit/gift card information over the phone. If you are being asked to wire money or to buy prepaid debit cards (gift cards, green dot cards, visa/mc, etc.) and then give information over the phone, you are most likely being the target of a scam. We also urge you to pass this information on to the elderly or those that may not otherwise be informed of these types of scams.

For more information on other types of scams and consumer information, you can visit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts