Blair County Sheriff's Office Issues Telephone Scam Alert

The Blair County Sheriff’s Office has received multiple reports of residents receiving phone calls from a male caller identifying himself as “Sergeant Lee Benton."

The caller is claiming that a “jury duty or witness” appearance has been missed or that “federal paperwork was misrepresented” by the person answering the phone. The caller states that the caller's "failure" will result in an arrest warrant being generated for the person answering the phone. A number is then provided for the person to call back if he/she does not make contact.

If the victim/call recipient makes contact with “Sergeant Benton,” he then gives instructions on how to handle the "warrant." The actor, “Benton,” has gone so far as to call the victim at their place of employment to attempt to further this scam.

The actor also provides a (fake) case number and has some of the victim’s personal information, making the matter seem legitimate.

The actor then advises the victim to travel to the court house immediately, while remaining on the phone with him to ensure the victim's compliance. The actor is using a smart phone application that disguises the actor’s number to make it appear that the "Blair County Sheriff’s Office" phone number is calling.

Neither the Blair County Sheriff’s Office, nor any other Blair County law enforcement agency, will never call and present an option to settle any outstanding filings, warrants, or paperwork via phone. The sheriff's office does at times place calls providing information to subjects who have outstanding filings, warrants, or paperwork to notify the office to arrange a time to meet for the service of same.

However, the sheriff's office will never make any monetary arrangements via phone, or request any personal account information for any reason. The sheriff's office also will never request that a person to remains on the phone as they drive to the court house.

Anyone who receives such a call should hang up immediately and then report the call to your local police agency to determine if the call is legitimate or a scam.

Never give or confirm personal information, or account information to anyone over the phone, unless you, the caller, instigated the call.