The sheriff said BCSO will never call to inform them of a warrant, discuss a fine, or ask them to visit multiple locations to pay a fine with bitcoin.

SAN ANTONIO — The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents to be aware and cautious of an increase in scams, primarily related to jury duty, in the area. 

Sheriff Javier Salazar said the department was informed of multiple incidents where residents were scammed out of thousands of dollars with some of the suspects posing as a Bexar County deputy. 

According to BCSO, on Jan. 28, a 64-year-old woman was called and intimidated by the caller who said she was going to be arrested because she “failed to appear in a federal summons,” unless she paid a fine. The caller coerced the woman to drive to multiple convenience store locations and input money into a machine that turns the payment into bitcoin. The woman was kept on the phone for several hours and was scammed out of $25,000. 

Salazar said another woman in her 40s was told she was under a gag order and had an outstanding warrant because she missed a court date for jury duty. At first, the suspects directed her to the BCSO headquarters on North Comal Street to pay a fine but then convinced the woman she would be arrested if she showed up. They then directed her to other locations to pay the fine. The woman was on the phone for several hours and was told not to talk to any other person because of the gag order. 

Authorities said the woman’s husband, who was unable to contact her believed his wife was a missing person, but after a few hours he was able to ping her location. A Bexar County deputy was able to locate her, but the woman, scared of being arrested, told the caller that a Bexar County investigator wanted to speak with her. When the deputy grabbed the phone to talk to the caller, the suspect hung up.

Salazar said the scammers also used a new tactic where they sent the woman a QR code, directing her to a zoom call, where she believed she was talking with a judge but the person’s face was not shown. She was also sent fake legal documents that featured her name and looked like real arrest warrants. In total, she was scammed out of $22,500. 

“Their very technically savvy on how they do this,” Salazar said. 

The sheriff said people should be aware that BCSO will never call to inform them of a warrant, discuss a fine, or ask them to visit multiple locations to pay a fine with bitcoin. He added that the department is doing their best to spread awareness about these scams. 

“We’re taking some new and innovative steps and we’re hoping it has a measurable effect in bringing down these incidents,” Salazar said. 

Salazar said a state law in Nebraska, along with a city ordinance in Omaha, requires stores with bitcoin machines to post signs warning about scams. BCSO is working with San Antonio leaders to create a similar ordinance.

The sheriff said the best thing you can do is report these scams if you’re a victim and make sure the callers’ requests make sense.