Imagine this scenario. Your cell phone rings, and you will see that the caller ID shows “Lycoming County Sheriff’s Office.” You assume this is important and answer the call. The caller tells you that they are from the Sheriff’s Office, that you have a violation, and that there is a warrant for your arrest. As you catch your breath, the caller tells you that you can avoid the arrest by paying a fine and sending it through Western Union. When you adamantly claim innocence, the caller is willing to work on that and possibly clear you, but you still must put up the money to avoid arrest. Of course, if you are indeed not guilty, you’ll get your money back.

This is what has been going on in our county for the past couple of weeks. At the July 25th Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting, Sheriff Mark Lusk told the commissioners about the current plague of scammers. Their latest flimflam is to call and announce, “This is Sheriff Mark Lusk, and you have outstanding fines,” or “I am calling from the Sheriff’s Office, and you failed to respond to jury duty,” or other such ‘violations.’ The caller tells the person that they must pay a fine or a warrant will be issued for their arrest, which ranges from $50 to $3,000. And yes, they have swindled our local folks of that much money.

Forgive my French. I am so disgusted, outraged, exasperated, and downright angry over this continuous plague of scammers preying on us and our neighbors. They specifically target the elderly, who are generally more civic-minded and also are more likely to have savings that the scum-sucking scammers seek to steal.

It seems these con men circle back our way about every two years or so. I noticed in my history of this column that I have written about it about every two years. Maybe they have a schedule that they go by, and Lycoming County pops up every 24 months. What we do know about them is that they are good at what they do. They know how to break down the weak and squeeze as much as they can from the vulnerable.

It goes like this: The perpetrator will identify themselves (or the office, such as the Sheriff’s Office) and inform you of your “violation.” The voice on the phone will most likely be male and very serious, with a professional tone of voice. Of course, the person receiving this call is caught off guard, and their response will determine how the scammer will respond.

If the one receiving the call is defiant, the fake sheriff personnel will become more adamant and serious. If the call brings out from the person more of an “Oh my!” response, the con man will be consolatory and seek to help them (telling how they can send money, of course). If the response is suspicious, the scammer will repeat the offense with a little more authority and add a little threat to it.

No matter how convincing or sincere the caller may seem to be, a simple rule of thumb to remember is that the Lycoming County Sheriff and his deputies NEVER do their business over the phone. Even if you see on your caller ID that it is from the Lycoming County Sheriff’s Office, DO NOT ANSWER!

Sheriff Lusk emphasized this point strongly at the County Commissioners meeting. If the Lycoming County Sheriff’s Office wants you, they won’t call you up on your phone. This is not how the Sheriff’s office works. If you need to be notified about a charge against you, they will do it in person by knocking at your home!

This scamming plague has also got the attention of District Attorney Tom Marino. At that same July 25th Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting, DA Marino emphasized that his office was also on top of these low-life swindlers.

Share this warning with your friends and family members. Anyone can be a target, but the Confederates seem to focus more on the elderly. If you should get one of these calls, do not engage them, even out of curiosity. These are seasoned liars who do this for a living. They know what buttons to hit, and the longer they have you on the phone, the more they can play with your head and break you down.

If you see it on your caller ID, do not answer, but report it to the Lycoming County Sheriff’s office at 570-327-2280. If we work together, we can get the scammers into the Sheriff’s office in a way that they would not prefer!