The Headquarters Investigations Unit has become aware of a recent phone scam targeting Ventura County residents where the scammer is representing themselves as a member of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

A caller claiming to be Sergeant Locker from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office with a fictitious badge number has called several Ventura County residents claiming they missed a grand jury summons. The scammer then informed the victims they owed $1,500 in court fees. The victims were instructed to use CoinFlip terminals (also known as Bitcoin ATMs) to buy Bitcoin and transfer the Bitcoin to the scammer’s cryptocurrency wallet. The scammer gave the victims detailed instructions on how to conduct the Bitcoin transactions. The cryptocurrency wallet was emptied and the telephone number used by the scammer was disconnected after the funds were transferred.

The victims were unable to get their money returned due to the nature of cryptocurrency transactions. The phone numbers used in the scam were internet