We recently shared a recorded voice mail that was left on a Norfolk resident's phone trying to convince the recipient to contact someone who claimed to be associated with the Norfolk Sheriff's Office. It's reasonable to assume that had this person called the number provided, the person on the other end of the line would have attempted to scam the recipient out of money.

Now, we've received another tip and audio file of a voice mail that's quite different from the previous one. We want to share it here to continue to provide guidance on the types of messages that scammers use.

You can hear the actual message HERE:

Although the message is garbled, here's the transcript of what the scammer said:

"This call is a documented call to records to schedule service of process and under federal law your attorney may be present. The preliminary hearing is set to take place with the motion filed. We do need to hear from you in the office at 757-664-9200. Schedule yourself accordingly and I wish you the best of luck."

The recipient of this message wisely did NOT call the number provided, but instead reported it to us. Presumably, if they had called the number back, the scammer would have tried to con them into sending money.

Note that this phone number has NO association with the Norfolk Sheriff's Office. As a reminder, you will never be contacted in this way by anyone associated with this agency. 

If you have received a call like this, DON'T CALL THEM BACK! Instead, please contact the Norfolk Sheriff's Office's Consumer Protection Unit to file a report.

File a Fraud Report

PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!!!

The Norfolk Sheriff’s Office Consumer Protection Unit was recently alerted to two different phone scams that we wanted to make you aware of.

The first is a scam in which the caller is identifying themselves as working for the Virginia Sheriff’s Association (VSA) and is asking for donations on behalf of the VSA. Deputy Imprevento of the NSO Consumer Protection Unit spoke with the Executive Director of the Virginia Sheriff’s Association who confirmed this is a scam. The Virginia Sheriff’s Association will never fundraise in this fashion.

The second scam we have been notified of is a different variation of a phone scam we have seen multiple times. The scammer, a male who is calling from 757-665-8062, is contacting citizens and telling them they missed a court date and must pay a fine of $3500 for failing to appear in court. In the past the caller has identified himself as Lt. Snyder with the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office. This time he identified himself as Lt. Reed with the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office. We do not have a Lieutenant Reed on staff at the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office and that number is not associated with our organization. Furthermore, when we called the number and confronted the man who answered the phone and identified himself as “Lt. Reed with the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office Administration Building”, he abruptly hung up. As a reminder, the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office will NEVER use a phone call to request money.

Please continue to remain vigilant about these scams and please don’t send any money to these callers. If you have been a victim of a scam or would like to report a scam, please report it the NSO Consumer Protection Unit at this link, https://norfolk-sheriff.com/fraudwatch.

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The Norfolk Sheriff's Office is a values driven organization
committed to public safety, public service, and public trust.

The woman who fell victim to this scam tells us she thinks the person who scammed her is the same person who claimed it was her "cousin" doing the scamming. She said she also believes the scammer just changed her online ID and is still trying to defraud people in the same manner.

If you believe someone had attempted to scam you like this, or you feel you've fallen victim to something similar to this, please contact the Norfolk Sheriff's Office's Consumer Protection Unit to file a report.

File a Fraud Report