Full Notification

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has received a rash of phone calls from residents who have reported what has become a familiar phone scam. The caller identifies himself as a Sheriff’s deputy and informs the citizen that because they failed to show up for jury duty there is a warrant out for their arrest. In order to avoid being arrested, the caller demands payment over the phone or requests the citizen purchase a pre-paid credit card. In the most recent round of phone calls, the caller claims to be “Deputy Marshall” and has a thick southern accent.

The Sheriff’s Office wants to warn residents to avoid sharing any personal or financial information over the phone. If you receive a call from anyone claiming to be from an agency, even it if is a trusted one, request the person’s name, title and get the phone number they are calling from. Then, look up the number of the agency they claim to be representing and place a direct phone call to verify the information the caller provided is correct.

We also want to remind residents that the Sheriff’s Office does not take any payments over the phone. Also, warrant notifications are not made over the phone. The Sheriff’s Office does not want to see any of our citizens fall victim to a scam and request that you report all fraudulent phone calls.