Mississippi scammers pretend to be deputies, target doctors

Published 9:08 am Saturday, April 14, 2018

DIAMONDHEAD (AP) — Police say a phone scam is targeting doctors and dentists in Mississippi.

Chief Deputy Don Bass with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office tells The Sun Herald a CVS clerk recently foiled one of the scammers’ efforts, by telling a doctor who was trying to put $17,000 on a money card to avoid arrest for a supposed failure to appear that he was being scammed.

Bass says at least five others have reported the scam to authorities on the state’s Gulf Coast. Bass says the scammers pretend to call from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and a con artist has specifically pretended to be Bass himself.

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They call from a spoofed phone number. Bass says actual law enforcement agencies send letters instead of calling people about missed court dates or fines.