How familiar does this sound? Your phone rings, and it's an unknown number. You pick up and answer, just in case, and:
"The following is a recorded message from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office," the robotic voice on the other end says.
The location of the department or the words in the call may vary -- some calls claim to be from D.C., while others begin with something like, "Good afternoon, this is Sgt. Bill Glenn calling with the Loudoun county Sheriff Department’s Civil Services Division," -- but the basics are the same.
If you've received a call like this, the real Loudoun County Sheriff's Office wants you to know it's not them -- it's a scam.
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“Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has built and worked so hard to maintain the trust of our community," said Sgt. Gun Lee with the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. "And for bad actors to use our name, use our brand name to commit this crime, is completely unacceptable.”
Investigators say these fake robocalls started earlier this week, and warn that the criminals are casting a wide net. The D.C. scam, for example, has a fake officer tell the recipient to report to police headquarters or they'll be arrested.
"It's a very fast-moving storm," Lee said.
Within 24 hours of noon on Tuesday, when the robocalls began, the real Loudoun County Sheriff's Office received hundreds of reports from residents.
And even Lee said the calls sound "very authentic."
"Our facility has been required by mandate to reach out today regarding an issue that has occurred which demands your immediate attention, call as soon as you are able," one of the messages says.
While Lee says the calls may sound legitimate, they're the opposite. The criminals urge potential victims to call a fake number or visit a bogus website in order to pay them with cryptocurrency gift cards or mobile apps.
“Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office will never ask our community to provide payment, especially using cryptocurrency, so that will be clue number one," Lee said.
D.C. Police told News4 that police will never ask for money, your bank information, or your social security number.
Lee says that the Sheriff's Office knows of at least one person who lost hundreds of dollars in the scam -- but more victims may be out there.
Lee says financial and cyber crime detectives are working around the clock to deactivate the fake phone numbers and websites.
“We’ve seen this type of MO before in the past, on a much smaller scale, but this is a little bit more complex," Lee said.
Police urge residents to be cautious and speak up. Anyone can become a victim, so if you get a similar call, police ask that you report it as soon as possible.
"If you’re the victim of this scam, we need to hear from you immediately, because one victim is one too many," Lee said.
