Crime & Safety

Scammers Posing as Fairfax County Detectives Target Residents

Scammers have kept residents on the line for more than two hours, bullying them into giving them money.

Residents of Fairfax County are dealing with new type of financial threat, one that uses the long arm of the law to extort money. 

Scammers claiming to be Fairfax County Police detectives have been calling residents and telling them there's a warrant out for their arrest, Fairfax County Crime Prevention Officer Tara Gerhard said. 

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The caller claims the warrant will "go away" if the resident pays restitution over the phone. 

The tricky thing about it is, the number that shows up on phone caller identification actually is one belonging to the Fairfax County Police Department. 

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"The suspects will do everything they can to keep you on the phone until they get your money (and) financial information. The suspects have kept victims on the phone for two to three hours, using scare tactics to bully the victim into giving personal and financial information," police said in a release about the scammers. 

Once the suspects received one payment, they will often call the victim back claiming they need more money to dissolve the warrants. 

Fairfax Police say never agree to give such suspects money or meet them for payment.  

The real police department does make calls in reference to misdemeanor warrants, but they never ask for payment information. Rather they ask the person to turn themselves in at the adult detention center, Gerhard said. 

If you receive a phone call of this nature don't assume it's actually Fairfax Police.

Residents can call the non-emergency number 703-691-2131 to see if a warrant exists and file a police report. 


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