Phone scams have been victimizing residents of Travis County. The scammer aggressively makes a claim involving court proceedings, an arrest or jail release, and demands immediate payment as the only option to solve the problem. The scammers often spoof the phone numbers of legitimate entities.
Pretrial Services will never seek payment for anything via Apple Pay, Bitcoin, Crypto Currency, Crypto ATM, a wire transfer, gift cards or MoneyPak, nor will Pretrial Services ever send a courier to receive payment for any matter.
Also, be aware of the following:
- Pretrial Services never calls residents to ask for credit/debit card numbers, wire transfers, or bank routing numbers or to seek payment over the phone.
- Scammers often pressure you to act immediately.
- Scammers may use scare tactics, such as claiming your loved one is in danger, or you may be arrested if you do not take immediate action.
- Any caller who wants you to pay money to get money back is a scammer.
What to do:
- If you don’t recognize the number of an incoming call, let it go to voicemail.
- Do NOT directly call back the number that called you. When in doubt, hang up and contact Pretrial Services at 512-854-9381 to verify the validity of that call before giving money to anyone.
- If you receive a phone call threatening arrest, demanding immediate payment, or requesting credit card or bank account information, hang up and report the incident immediately to your local law enforcement agency.
People frequently don’t report being the victim of a scam due to embarrassment. Please don’t hesitate to report the crime. Scammers rehearse and develop these scams, designing them to generate anxiety and desperation. It can be hard to discern their tactics and you aren’t the only person to be targeted. If you believe that you have been scammed:
- Contact your bank, report the scam and follow their direction immediately.
- File a report with your local law enforcement agency, and in addition, you should make an online report with the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/