BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The Kern County Sheriff’s Office is alerting residents about phone and text message scams where individuals pose as KCSO personnel and demand payments for court issues such as fraudulent warrants, missed jury duty, or ankle monitor concerns.<\/p>\n
The scammers will ask for gift cards, Bitcoin, or other electronic payments and may threaten arrest, said officials.<\/p>\n
Some scammers are now sending text messages claiming residents owe toll road or DMV fees. Deputies said these claims are fake. Do not click any links or send payment.<\/p>\n
Another scam to look out for involves people claiming to be KSCO employees who say residents must pay to use ankle monitors for an incarcerated friend or family member upon their release. This is a scam. Do not send them money, said KCSO.<\/p>\n
Red flags to look out for:<\/p>\n
They spoof official numbersDemand urgent paymentWon’t let you hang upThe Kern County Sheriff’s Office will NEVER ask for money or payment over the phone or via text.<\/p>\n
KCSO said if a call seems suspicious, hang up. To report scams, call (661) 861-3110.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The Kern County Sheriff’s Office is alerting residents about phone and text message scams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-436716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}