The Panola County Sheriff’s Office warned residents after a caller posing as Sgt. Griffin told a county resident she had missed federal jury duty and demanded $500 to avoid arrest, the office said.
The caller also sent a photo of a purported arrest warrant, the office said. The resident called Circuit Clerk Heather Turner, who told her the call was a scam, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said several details indicated the document was fraudulent: it listed the Southern District of Mississippi even though Panola County is in the Northern District; the call came from a Georgia phone number; and the warrant was unsigned and identified only as ‘SGT Griffin.’
The office said it may assist federal agencies in serving arrest warrants, but it will never call to demand money or tell someone to send funds to avoid arrest. The sheriff’s office urged residents to verify suspicious calls by contacting local authorities.
