Orange County Sheriff's Department Scam

6/18/2020

Orange County Sheriff's Department Scam

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A scam is happening now that targets therapists, social workers, psychologists, and mental health professionals. A highly strategic and organized group of scammers have identified therapists and other medical professionals to inform them that they were subpoenaed, missed their court date, and now have two or more active bench warrants issued by a judge - one for contempt of court and one for failure to appear. They inform you that you are on a recorded line and that two uniformed deputies served you a subpoena and someone signed your name on the subpoena. When you tell them that you didn't, they persist that they will investigate but that they must follow orders by the judge. They cite that they cannot release details about the case since it is privileged information. These scammers inform the individual that both bench warrants are Class C Misdemeanor warrants which will cause law enforcement to take you into custody if you come across any of them.

This scam is a multi-day scam often in which they slowly built the intensity over a series of days. After the first day or two, they tell you that they are going to look closer into it and investigate further. With each day that they call you back, the situation escalates. Eventually they tell you that you now have an order from the judge called a "MAINTAIN CONTACT ORDER" (MCO) in which they will need to maintain contact with you at all times until you get to the sheriff's station to verify your signature. If you violate the MCO by hanging up the phone, they will bypass the civil process and turn it over to a criminal investigation. They urge you that you do not want to go through the criminal proceedings with handcuffs because you may not be able to get the warrants expunged.

They then inform you that you may be subject to the Mobile Monitoring System by the United States (U.S.) Marshall's in which they will obtain a warrant to track your precise GPS location if you do not follow the guidelines of the "maintain contact order."

It gets worse - they then inform you that they are verbally serving a "gag order" and "suppression order" in which you are not to discuss the details of this case with anyone since you now have privileged information pertaining to the case. They may make comments such as, "the judge was very upset since a minor had to take the stand and will now need to take the stand again since you failed to appear." They urge you to get to the Sheriff's Department as soon as possible to complete a signature verification so they may begin the dismissal process.

If you ask about obtaining an attorney, they tell you "If you contact legal counsel, you forfeit your right to undergo the civil process and it must then be taken into the criminal proceedings in which these charges may not fully expunge from your record." In this case, you may also inadvertently "forfeit your right to a fast and speedy trial" since your case will no longer be on the civil track.

If you ask about the legibility of the forged signature and why they didn't check your ID, they'll say "It's chicken scratch" and "we are absolutely going to launch an investigation into these two uniformed officers who served this subpoena and I will make sure that they are investigated by the Internal Affairs Division for reprimand, suspension, or forced to fired."

When you ask to consult with your family members, they remind you that you are under a "suppression order" in which you may be held liable for anything you say... and they further remind you that you are on a recorded line.

They then encourage you to go to the police station with two forms of identification as soon as possible to get the signature analysis and verification. En route to the police station, they request you to stop at a licensed retail store to purchase a "registered enforcement voucher" in which "only government officials can deposit it." They instruct you to bring that to the police station to post your "surety bond." The bond costs approx. $5000 plus a $50 bail fee. They offer a waiver for whatever amount you cannot post. They instruct you to enter the Sheriff's station and approach the "front kiosk linked to the NCID database." They instruct, "do not speak to any uniformed officers in the process because they may take you into custody because of your warrants."  You are then instructed to enter a pin code for bond placement.

The more questions you ask, the more they say, "I can tell you haven't been in trouble before. We usually deal with criminals who know all about this. Don't worry. I will walk you through step by step of the process."

At some point here, the money comes in. If you are lucky, you will not get to this point. The trick about this scam is that they continually urge you to go to the police station for signature analysis. At some point en route, the money component is involved to "pull bail" and they instruct you to send gift cards to the "Dept. of Treasury" and have you scratch the numbers off the back and read it to them to "verify validity." Luckily, most of us stop when we hear this. But the continuous urge to go to the police station and comply with the legal orders can be very tricky to deal with.

In my case, my primary investigator was "Lieutenant Alex Stephens" who provided his office phone number (Orange County Sheriff's at 714-647-7000) and direct number (714-760-9055) which turns out to be an Orange County professional escort phone number. The other deputy was Lt. Mason who implemented the "gag order" and "suppression order." Both Lt. Alex Stephens and Lt. Mason called each time from the O.C. Sheriff's Dept. main line; obviously using a program to do this.

Please watch out! These guys are everywhere. They evolve to get more and more complex, even for those who would never suspect a scam.

21 Comments

Orange County Divorce Lawyer link

2/24/2022 12:16:39 pm

They urge you to get to the Sheriff's Department as soon as possible to complete a signature verification so they may begin the dismissal process. I truly appreciate your great post!

Orange County Family Law Lawyer link

2/24/2022 01:20:40 pm

The criminal proceedings in which these charges may not fully expunge from your record. Thank you for the beautiful post!

Carson link

3/11/2023 08:40:19 am

We've started to see similar scam happen with chiropractors, massage therapists and other alternative health providers. Appreciate the detailed writeup.

Jennifer Nworie link

3/14/2023 01:02:23 pm

I hope these scammers are caught and made to face the consequences of their actions.
Thank you for alerting us.

Dave Weilder link

5/19/2023 08:46:44 pm

Dear Pacific Mind Spa,

I want to express my gratitude for sharing valuable information regarding the Orange County Sheriff's Department scam through your recent blog post. It is disheartening to hear about scams targeting individuals in our community, and your article serves as an important warning and resource for raising awareness.

Scams can have a significant impact on people's lives, causing financial losses, emotional distress, and a breach of trust. By shedding light on specific scams like the one impersonating the Orange County Sheriff's Department, you empower readers to recognize the warning signs and take necessary precautions to protect themselves.

I appreciate the detailed explanation you provided regarding the scam, including the tactics used by scammers to deceive individuals. This information helps readers understand how to identify fraudulent calls and protect themselves from falling victim to such schemes.

Moreover, your emphasis on the importance of verifying the legitimacy of any communication from law enforcement or government agencies is crucial. Encouraging readers to independently confirm the identity of the caller or request official documentation before sharing personal information is a sound precautionary measure.

By including resources such as the Orange County Sheriff's Department's official website and contact information, you provide readers with a reliable source to verify the authenticity of any communication they receive. This is a valuable asset for individuals who may be targeted by scams and need to confirm the legitimacy of the caller.

Thank you for taking the initiative to inform and protect your readers by addressing the Orange County Sheriff's Department scam. Your dedication to sharing essential information and resources helps create a more informed and vigilant community, which is essential in combating scams and safeguarding individuals from fraudulent activities.

I applaud your commitment to promoting awareness and providing valuable resources. Please continue to share such important information, as it greatly contributes to the well-being and safety of the community.

Tiffany

8/12/2023 11:58:34 am

This happened to me today 8/12/23 and really raised my blood pressure as they called from the OC Sherrifs main line. Luckily as soon as they asked me to get a bond before going to police station I knew something was off. Don’t be scammed

Dr. C Lowry

9/13/2023 07:38:47 am

Thanks for this post. They contacted me on 8/13/23 with this exact scam. I reported the scam via email to the Orange Country Government Consumer Protection Department.

Matthew Angell link

9/19/2023 01:50:10 pm

They may make comments such as,the judge was very upset since a minor had to take the stand and will now need to take the stand again since you failed to appear. Thank you, amazing post!

Veronica Calkins

9/19/2023 02:53:06 pm

Hi everyone, thank you for all the thoughtful comments! Please be aware that there has been a tremendous spike in website views for this post over the past several weeks (September 2023) and I have had many people personally reach out to me about this scam happening to them over the past several days. The scammers are so convincing and it is easy to fall into their trap. They STILL continue to contact me, too! Please be careful!!

Lloyd Dobson link

9/26/2023 11:04:49 am

The trick about this scam is that they continually urge you to go to the police station for signature analysis. I’m so thankful for your helpful post!

Dave Sims link

12/22/2023 03:02:35 pm

I recently read your blog post alerting people to phone scams where callers falsely claim association with the Orange County Sheriff's Department. As an Orange County resident, I appreciate you helping spread awareness about this issue to protect community members.

The details you provided about the nature of this scam match similar alerts I've seen recently as well. It is troubling that perpetrators are exploiting citizens' inclination to trust law enforcement by spoofing numbers and referring to fake warrants or unpaid fees. Your advice for readers to independently verify any payment requests, even if callers seem official, could help many avoid falling victim.

In addition to the tips you shared, I might emphasize that the Sheriff's Department will never call demanding immediate payment by gift card or money transfer. Slowing down to double check things in these situations can save people substantial hardship. If anybody remains uncertain, they can directly call the non-emergency Sheriff’s Office number to confirm rather than providing personal information to suspicious callers.

I appreciate Pacific Minds helping to spread the word so Orange County residents stay vigilant against scams involving urgent payment demands or threats of arrest. Please keep up the great work helping keep our community safe in both physical and mental health realms!

C. Penick

1/2/2024 11:30:34 pm

These folks called me today 1/2/2024. I was more annoyed than anything that they interrupted my hour of downtime I had allotted for myself. My characters were Sgt David Davis and Lt. Matt Prince. Actual OC Sheriff employees but incorrect Titles and badge numbers. They knew my name and street address, which is public info anyway.Tried to convince me that I signed a subpoena at my residence to which I told them that I'm checking my cameras and nope nobody there at that time or date. I ended up hanging up on them. I then reported them to the OC sheriff fraud hot line. Reading this post informed me of what they wanted as we didn't get that far. I wasn't going to drive to the Sheriff's office to give anyone my signature. People are quite bold. I tried calling the number back and of course it just rang. I looked up the number and was associated with OC Research and Development. So obviously used some program that showed a valid number on my caller ID because my carrier didn't mark it as spam. I truly thought I was being pranked and even asked them because their story was so bogus sounding. Spread the word because if they are still calling folks that most likely means people are falling for this scam, unfortunately.

Scott Morrison

1/3/2024 07:47:39 pm

First scam I almost fell for. The supposed cop was very convincing, and all I wanted to do was to clear the situation up. He claimed I signed for a certified letter summoning me for jury duty for a date that had already passed, and said the Judge wanted an explanation from me for why I didn't show. Said I'd have to come down to the station for a signature analysis to clear myself. Was a 7 min drive away so figured why not.

As soon as I was enroute he mentioned stopping by the near by Kroger to pick up a money order to cover the cost ($2,500) of the analysis, and that I would be reimbursed once I was cleared.

That was super fishy so I googled my situation and saw I was being scammed. By that time I was at the station so walked in anyway just to confirm with someone. They explained that the scammers spoof their number and use Cop's badge numbers / local judges names to trick people.

Like I said, the way this played out was pretty convincing up until they started asking for money.

Bonnie G

2/19/2024 04:07:05 pm

Yep... got a call from Sgt. Richard House... eventually transferred to the Lieutenant.... Once he said "bond", I said, "hello, hello, hello, oh we have a bad connection..." Hung up and blocked the number. Everything that was mentioned above happened in this call.

Candace

3/14/2024 04:54:00 am

This happened to me yesterday, 3/13/24. As a female mental health therapist, it was very alarming and scary for me. He told me that I was under a Maintain Contact Order, so I could not hang up the phone, mute it, or put him on speaker since it was confidential information. He told me that I couldn't even tell my husband, as I was leaving the house, any information other than the fact that I needed to do paperwork somewhere. He DID call me from a confirmed Non- emergency number connected to Orange County Sheriff's Department. I hung up and called it back, and he picked up. A friend later explained that he must have tapped into the non emergency line and could see when my number was calling, so he pulled my call. A few hours later, when we called that same number back, the normal non- emergency line answering service picked up. This entire thing was very distressing to me, as I believed him and was about to leave the house to confirm my signature. I even wrote a note to my husband to explain what was going on since I couldn't mute my phone. He was the one that googled it, and called a different OC Sheriff's Dept to ask about this, and immediately told me to hang up because it's a scam. After I hung up, the "Sheriff" Alex Hardick continuously called me, and left a voicemail stating "You know what I have to do to you now. Criminal procedure will follow". It was very threatening and costed me hours of elevated blood pressure. Thank you for posting this. He was extremely convincing.

Julie Nichols

3/20/2024 10:29:29 am

I had this call yesterday, 3/19/24, an official sounding man stated that I gas missed my grand jury summons from 3/15. He gave me his name and badge number along with the judges info sounding legit. I told him that I’d never received the notice. He talked alot about the consequences like getting arrested, paying fines of $4000, going to jail and how the trial has to be rescheduled and that I will have to speak directly to the judge to explain myself. Eventually telling me that I would have to purchase a surety bond. I started adding questions and if this was a scam, asked my spouse to look this up then he hung up on me. He called me again today stating it the same way. I said “You called my yesterday” then he hung up.

daria

6/7/2024 11:11:25 am

Thank you. I had this just done to me. It was not word for word, but close enough. Mine refused to give me a phone number however. But then wanted to have access to my car to check my odometer on arrival) and was sent an address of the jail. A quick call to the actual sheriff's department in my area confirmed it was a scam. It will be interesting if he calls back again. The maintain contact order so you can not hang up was the weirdest part. And then get in your car and travel. "We can't have you checking the internet now can we? " <Dr. Evil finger to the corner of the mouth meme>

Tasha

8/17/2024 07:06:42 pm

This just happened to me right now! Which is why I googled it and found this post here. Except they told me it was a warrant for jury duty and I told them this was a scam but they were SO convincing and had all my information and full social too!! They said to go directly to sheriffs office which was indeed the actual address they gave to me. There was no money to be paid over the phone, I would be resolving my warrant and returning home. I would be posting $2k hold AT the actual sheriffs office to resolve the warrant which would be refunded to me after my warrant dismissal. So it was honestly asking for nothing except go straight to law enforcement and get it resolve - at first!
I was told I had a gag order to not call or talk to anyone due to my active jury duty and that I had to remain on the line until I was at the office. As I approached close to the sheriff office they told me I had to use a kiosk inside the sheriff office and that needed to be paid by a prepaid card which they had a legitimate sounding reason for. The told me to get one at Walmart. At this time though, I kept trying to ask them to let me call them back directly at sheriffs office several times to verify them and kept telling them that they’re a scam. They went silent and hung up.
I called OC Sheriff’s dept immediately and was relieved it was a scam and didn’t go any further. I would never thought I’d get swindled in a scam but these guys were good - they impersonated Sheriff Hallock and Lieutenant Mason with badge #s that I looked up.

Not the one

9/24/2024 05:30:26 pm

I got a similar call today from a David Davis who told me that I was getting turned to the criminal division because I was not responding. I filed a report with the Orange County sheriffs office who were not able to confirm that this number came from an actual employee and documented the incident. I feel like it was a recording to be honest

Marc Greenberg link

1/2/2025 02:14:23 pm

It's still happening. I just got called from a client that was given the same story. However, they claim to be with the US Marhsal's Office but the address they give is the Orange County Court, not the fedreal court.

Melissa

2/2/2025 07:38:06 am

Happened to my daughter yesterday in Austin Texas. The guy was quite convincing and had many details about her. First clue, he said he was an officer from Travis County but he called from a Houston number. He told her she had to drive to a state building, which I knew was not open on Saturday. Second clue. Then he said she had to stay on the phone with him while she drove there. I kind of thought it was someone trying to lure her into a dangerous situation. Possibly, it was. Luckily I was there and told her to hang up and block the number. Never got far enough to ask for money. But she was very upset. People are so bad.

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