It has come to our attention that scammers are seeking the Douglas County Jails website to see new arrestees. Once the scammer has the name of the new arrestee, they find their loved one’s contact information. When they get the phone numbers, they call the victim and inform them that their loved one is in jail and to wire money to bond out. These scammers also use real sheriff’s office employee’s names to make it seem more real. To be clear, a person is in our jail when this scam happened.
We can not stop people from searching for inmates on the jail website. However, this is a new twist on an old scam, similar to the grandchild in jail scam. The only difference is that the person is actually in jail. So, many victims will see the officer’s name as an employee and see their loved one in our jail during verification then call the scammer back thinking it is true.
Do not be mistaken, you do not wire money to bond people out of jail. A bondsman only calls you when your loved one requests it. To be safe, we recommend hanging up the phone call and calling the jail they are in. Ask for the charges and the bond amount. DO NOT CALL THE NUMBER BACK. Find a bondsman or pay the bond yourself. Either way, someone must physically come to the jail to pay the bond and complete the paperwork. NEVER PAY FOR A BOND OVER THE PHONE.
Remember our phone safety rules: 1) never give personal information to anyone who calls you 2) If you need to verify, find the accurate number to conduct business. 3) you can not trust Google for accurate numbers; there are just as many fake websites as real ones. Use Google Maps or call a trusted source for help.