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Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Officials Warn Of Jury Duty Scam Targeting Residents

A Castaic man received an alarming phone call Friday saying he had a warrant out for his arrest for failing to appear in court.

Bruce Tracy received a call from a scammer claiming to be Captain Mark Bowen of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, who then informed the victim that a citation for a failure to appear and a warrant issued for contempt of court had been issued for him.

What followed was a series of questions and instructions designed to baffle the intended victim. The scammer, described as being patient and calm, began to weave a web of lies to convince his victim of the validity of the situation.

“This scam was designed to be confusing,” said Tracy. “The scammer purposely threw a bunch of information at me, hoping I would not ask too many questions.”

The person on the phone walked the victim through the process of what was going on, provided the Castaic man directions to the Santa Clarita station and then proceeded to confound him with pages worth of information, including names, false citation numbers and other clerical information.

To add to the validity of the scammer’s claims, at one point the call was disconnected, and when the victim called back, the number it was directed to was an answering machine declaring itself as the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Office Warrant and Citations Division.

“It seemed like he had done this scam before,” said Tracy. “He disconnected on purpose, forcing me to call back and hear that recording.”

After Tracy had prepared to head to the Sheriff’s Station, he was then informed that he needed to get $3 non-refundable payment vouchers with his citation numbers printed on them.

The victim would then be required to present his vouchers to the front desk of the Sheriff’s Station, along with his driver’s license to have the citations, cleared.

The victim was also offered a second, far more inconvenient option; to go to the Sheriff’s Station and begin the hours-long ordeal of getting processed. The person on the phone assured his potential victim that if the payment vouchers were chosen, he would help walk Tracy through the process.

But Tracy refused, choosing instead to go to the Sheriff’s Station, where officials confirmed that he had no outstanding warrants.

While the resident managed to avoid being scammed, he described the experience as a stressful and confusing situation.

Similar scams have been used before in several states, including scams that not only use the same false claims, but the same false identity to intimidate victims.

A spokesperson for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station said the department would never call a resident asking for money.

“We send out most information in the mail,” said Shirley Miller, spokesperson for the station. “We would never call anyone asking for payment for a warrant.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation released an official warning against jury duty scams in 2017, stating that legitimate law enforcement officers do not call private citizens asking for money.

To avoid becoming the victim of this type of phone scam, law enforcement officials suggest the following tips:

  • Always be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls;
  • Never give money or personal information to someone with whom you don’t have ties and did not initiate contact;
  • Trust your instincts: if an unknown caller pressures you, or says things that don’t sound right, hang up; and
  • If concerns remain about the caller’s claims, verify the information with the appropriate law enforcement agency or court officials.

If concerns remain about the caller’s claims, verify the information with the appropriate law enforcement agency or court officials.
Victims of phone or online scams can file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center or call the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at (661) 255-1121.


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Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Officials Warn Of Jury Duty Scam Targeting Residents

6 comments

  1. This Scam was for $3 payment vouchers?? Doesn’t seem worth the Time and the Money??

    • I think that must be a typo. NO ONE would risk getting caught for a scam worth under $10

    • That is how he gets you to drop your guard. He starts with the $3 non refundable vouchers, but twenty minutes into the phone call, he mentioned the fines for the 2 warrants for over $3,000. Later, he mentioned that the fines would be refunded which led me to believe his ultimate goal was to get me to put the fines on the vouchers.

  2. That is how he gets you to drop your guard. He starts with the $3 non refundable vouchers, but twenty minutes into the phone call, he mentioned the fines for the 2 warrants for over $3,000. Later, he mentioned that the fines would be refunded which led me to believe his ultimate goal was to get me to put the fines on the vouchers.

  3. He starts with the $3 non-refundable voucher to get you off your guard. About a half hour in to the conversation, he mentions the fines for the 2 warrants, which was over $3000 combined and lets you know they will be refundable, which I am assuming meant he was going to try to get me to put those on the prepaid voucher.

  4. If your number isn’t in my contacts, I don’t answer. Then it gets blocked. If it’s legit they’ll leave me a nice message. It’s so disturbing and sad how many people do this. I’m sorry you had to go through that.

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About Jade Aubuchon

A Santa Clarita native, Jade has spent her whole life involved in community outreach. After graduating from Learning Post High in 2015, she went on to College of the Canyons to pursue a double major in English and Marketing. Jade spent several years as a ballroom dance performer for a local studio and has performed at public and private events throughout Santa Clarita. As KHTS Co-News Director Jade oversees the KHTS news team, which covers all the latest news impacting Santa Clarita. Along with covering and writing her own news stories, Jade can be heard broadcasting the daily local news every weekday morning and afternoon drive-time twice an hour on KHTS 98.1FM and AM-1220. Jade is also instrumental in reporting on-the-scene local emergencies, covering them on-air and via Facebook Live and YouTube. Another dimension to Jade’s on-air skills and writing are her regular political and celebrity interviews, including her bi-monthly interview with our Congressman Mike Garcia and many other local politicians and community leaders.