Saline County Sheriff warns public about recurring scam calls

The Saline County Sheriff’s Office is asking county residents to be alert for a recurring scam in the area that involves someone asking for bond money.

Sheriff Roger Soldan said the scam involves a person identifying themselves as a deputy calling to notify citizens that a family member is in need of a bond payment.

Soldan said the Sheriff’s Office does not contact family members on behalf of inmates to request bond money. Rather, inmates have access to phones in the Saline County Jail and are given opportunities to make phone calls to friends and family regarding their bonds.

“From what we’ve seen, the (Salina) police department had received a lot of calls on it, and they alerted us about the situation,” said Lieutenant Jerimiah Hayes with the Saline County Sheriff’s Office.

Citizens can report suspicious calls to the Sheriff’s Office

Hayes said people in the community should not give out any personal information or send money to anyone who identify as deputies on the other end of a call.

“We wanted to get that information out there to the public – that is not the way the Sheriff’s Office conducts business – we don’t ever call and ask for money over the phone,” Hayes said.

The best thing to do if someone gets a call of this nature, Hayes said, is to call the Sheriff’s Office to verify if what that person is saying is true.

After an influx of calls about the scam, the Sheriff’s Office and Salina Police are taking information from citizens and doing what they can to investigate similarities between the calls.

“It’s like those other kinds of scams you hear about all the time,” Hayes said. “It’s important for people to know about it and not fall for it.”

Citizens should use the non-emergency number, 785-826-6500, to report a suspicious call.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Sheriff advises public to be aware of recurring scam calls