14 New Reports of Phone Scams in Collier County

The Office of Inspector General has received 14 reports from people who live in or used to live in Collier County since April 4, 2024.

Many people in Collier County were recently warned by Collier County Clerks office Crystal Kinzel to be careful not to fall for a new round of phone scams. Since April 4, 2024, 14 calls have been made to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) from people in and out of Collier County reporting attempted phone scams. People who made the complaints were told that they had not shown up for jury service, that they were in contempt of court, that they had not paid a traffic ticket, or that they had an arrest warrant out for their arrest.

The con artists asked for $500 to $10,000 from their victims and told them they could pay in cash or with a mobile payment app like Zelle. Almost every time this happened, the scammer had a phone number that looked like it was real show up on the victim’s caller ID. The phone number could be a “spoofed” number, which means it’s not really from the number that’s being shown. Instead, the call is coming from a different number that the victim can’t see. Other victims said the calls came through from lines that were blocked.

Some of the victims realized the scam and tried to hang up, but the con artist got them to talk to a fake boss to confirm the violations. In other cases, the con artist used real names and tag numbers of Collier County Sheriff’s Office employees or a real Collier County Judge’s name to trick the victim into thinking the violations were real.

Two people said that the scammers got them to pay the money they asked for: one paid $1,800 and the other paid $3,500. One victim was tricked into trying to take $10,000 in cash, but an employee of the bank quickly stopped the transaction when they realized it was a scam.

People should be careful with caller IDs and never give out personal or financial information to someone they don’t know over the phone. Remember that the Florida Clerk’s Office will never call to ask for money. If you get any calls that seem fishy, please report them right away.

Here are some things you can do to stay away from phone scams:

Don’t answer calls from lines you don’t know. People calling can leave a message, and you can choose to pick up or not.
Don’t tell someone sensitive things over the phone if you don’t know or trust them.
Hang up if someone is putting pressure on you to send money right away.
Talk to a family member or friend about what’s going on. If something seems too good to be true or makes you feel uncomfortable, tell someone you trust to look into it.
Call the Collier County Sheriff’s Office at (239) 252-CALL (2255), and ask to speak with someone before you “pay.” It is staffed by a member of the Sheriff’s Financial Crimes Bureau from Monday to Friday.
People in the community are being actively reached out to by our Office of Inspector General to learn how to spot and avoid scams. Call the OIG at (239) 252-8412 to get information if your group wants to learn more about how to stop theft. People who want to report fraud can use the same number, or they can call the 24-hour private hotline at 844-ClerkIG (844) 253-7544. Our website, CollierClerk.com, has more choices for how to report things.

Report comes from Collier County Clerks office Crystal Kinzel