A Multnomah County man recently lost $40,000 in a phone scam the sheriff’s office is warning the public about.
On Sept. 23, a woman reported her 79-year-old father missing after receiving a concerning phone call from him, the sheriff’s office said.
“He told me, ‘I can’t answer your texts or emails right now. I’ll call you later.’ I thought, ‘This isn’t right. Something’s not right,’” the woman told police.
When the man returned home, a sheriff’s deputy was waiting and intercepted him on the phone with a scammer, who hung up, the sheriff’s office said.
The scammer had identified himself as a Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office deputy and told the man he had missed jury duty and needed to pay a fine to avoid being arrested.
The man made two $20,000 withdrawals from his bank and deposited the cash into a bitcoin machine at a convenience store in Southeast Portland.
“They want people to panic and act before they know what has happened,” Detective Tamari Johnson said in a statement.
Anyone who receives a suspicious call should hang up immediately and verify the call independently, and should not transfer money through cryptocurrency kiosks, gift cards or wire transfers.
“Please report these crimes to law enforcement. We know these cases can be challenging to investigate, but if a scammer can be identified — we will prosecute,” Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said in a statement.
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