Recently, officers from the New Castle County Division of Police have been made aware of a phone scam in which the caller pretended to be Lieutenant Faulkner from the New Castle County Sheriff’s Office. In this case, the victim was told that she owed money on citations received for missing a court date she was subpoenaed for. The subject(s) told her if she did not pay, she would be arrested.
Please note, that the New Castle County Sheriff’s office is not a law enforcement agency; they do not have military ranks such as sergeants or lieutenants, only deputies. More importantly, their deputies do not make arrests.
However, deputies from the New Castle County Sheriff’s Office from time to time do in fact contact members of the community, but not in this instance. A good way to verify that the person you are talking to is in fact from the Sheriff’s office is to simply, end the call. Then contact the Sheriff’s office at (302) 395-8450.
Here are some additional points to remember:
Neither Deputies nor officers from the New Castle County Division of Police will ever request or take funds over the phone, any payments owed must be made in person to the respective court.
They will never contact the members of the community about missed jury duty or a missed court date.
The only way to alleviate a warrant is to appear at the issuing agency, or at the court. Also, when posting bail, even for a family member, you have to be present in order to post the bail.
Additionally, if you receive a call from the New Castle County Division of Police non-emergency number, it is also a scam. The system we use is not able to call back on that line nor will it enable anyone else to call out. The (302) 573-2800 number is fully functional for incoming calls only.
If you think you have been the victim of a scam or fraud please do not be embarrassed or ashamed. These scammers can be very convincing, and you are not alone. Contact the New Castle County Police non-emergency line (302)-573-2800 or (302) 395-8171 to report a scam.
Source: NCCPD