NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Thieves are out to steal your money and don't think you won't be fooled.
They target anyone and everyone.
"There is a very prominent lawyer everyone would know, two weeks ago he called me in a panic that his wife was scammed," said Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, who is warning the public this well-known scam is worsening.
How convincing are these crooks?
Consider: Sheriff Hall pulled up to work here at the jail, a man walked up with tears in his eyes and handed him an envelope of cash saying "I want to keep my daughter out of jail."
And this guy wasn't the first to be scammed ...
"I've had elected officials, lawyers, CEOs, FBI agents, my mother, my family," said Hall.
In recent weeks nearly every sheriff in the state has posted warnings about a tried and true scam that is escalating at an alarming rate.
Sheriff Hall says calls to victims threaten them with arrests for everything from unpaid fines to missed jury duty and court dates and demand money.
"It's not some goofy kid trying to trick you out of money. It is super cyber-sophisticated," Hall explained.
The scammers search public databases looking for names of potential victims who may have been in the court system -- even if it was for something like a divorce or bankruptcy and then targets them pretending to be from a sheriff's office.
"What they do is go online and find a social media picture and find a person who works there and they will text you a picture that this is me," explained Hall.
This scam isn't new, but Sheriff Hall says more people are falling for it these days including some you might not expect .
"I can name someone in the media to you in history and knowledge and awareness who called me panicked," said Hall. "And said I am about to put this money -- believe it or not -- on bitcoin."
The sheriff says he heard from a state senator just last week. The point is anyone can be a target.
The advice is the same: Anyone calls you making threats and asking for money -- hang up.
It's bogus.
Two things to remember: Money lost this way is hardly ever recovered and those responsible are hardly ever caught.
Sheriff Hall says the only real solution is educating yourself.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Nick.Beres@newschannel5.com
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