Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office warns of scam targeting registered sex offenders

ASHTABULA COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) - The Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office is warning of a phone scam they said is targeting registered sex offenders.

According to a department Facebook post, the scammer pretends they are a police official in a phone call.

The scammer then threatens the sex offender with arrest for failing to comply with registration requirements, the sheriff’s office said.

Finally, the scammer will attempt to convince the sex offender to pay a bond to avoid jail time, according to the post.

The sheriff’s office the sex offender will be instructed to pay their bond with a Green Dot debit card.

“We want to remind the public that the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office will never contact you by phone and ask you to pay fees of any kind. Never give out your personal information or bank account information,” the sheriff’s office wrote in their post.

According to the post, deputies will continue to complete in-person compliance checks for all registered sex offenders.

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