New phone scam urges residents to surrender at DCSO

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is warning about a new scam in which a caller claims to be a sheriff’s deputy and asks the recipient to leave their home and turn themselves in at the sheriff’s office.

The caller claims to be a “Captain Green” or “Deputy Horn,” Sgt. William Bailey said in a post to social media on Thursday.

“We are still looking into this scam and attempting to determine what the caller’s goal is with having the citizen go to the sheriff’s office,” Bailey said.

“We believe this is another attempt to get the citizen to send money to clear their name of a warrant for failing to appear in court,” Bailey wrote.

“Thankfully, no one to our knowledge has fallen for this most recent scam, so we don’t know what their end goal is,” he added.

Bailey said late Thursday that detectives were working to comple information, in hopes of identifying a suspect.

Could the callers be trying to get someone out of their home so it can be burglarized?

“It’s possible,” Bailey said, “but I think it’s more likely to check if they are hooked by the scam and then a second call goes out for the money. And we have had no burglaries linked to this type of call ahead of time.”

Bailey reminded the public that the sheriff’s office doesn’t call citizens and seek money to clear a warrant. If there is a warrant, a deputy will contact you in person and will have the proper credentials.

“You should always be suspicious of anyone you are not familiar with that is asking for money over the telephone, particularly to clear up any legal matter or warrant,” Bailey said.

Anyone with questions or needing to report being the target or victim of a scam was asked to call the none-emergency dispatch line at 541-693-6911 and ask to speak to a deputy.