Man records phone call with schemer claiming to be Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy: 'He almost had me'

MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - A Phoenix man recorded the entire phone conversation with a schemer claiming to be a Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy asking for money to avoid jail time for not attending jury duty.

The caller starts off by saying he missed his jury duty date, and that he owes a fine, or else he's going to jail.

Phoenix man Phillip Brady got the call after work on July 5. He stayed on the phone with the schemer for an hour and recorded the entire conversation.

He initially thought it was the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. That's what his caller ID said.

"He started throwing all these legal things at me, saying, 'Well, you didn't show up to court to jury duty, and you need to turn yourself in to the sheriff's department.' Or, ‘If you want to get out of this, you need to go to the bonds and or go to your bank and get this,’ which was $90,000 they wanted," he said.

The schemer sent over fake documents along with information on how Brady needed to transfer the money.

"I'm fixing to reach out to the clerk's office. What they're going to be doing at that time, sir, is sending over a digital copy of your warrant, it's going to be in black and white," the caller told Brady.

When Brady said he didn't have $90,000, the caller eventually lowered what he wanted to $1,000.

"He told me, 'Go to the bank and go get money out. Then, when you're done with that, you're going to go to a kiosk at the closest kiosk,' and he knew where the kiosk was. It was Fry's," Brady said.

The details are what made Brady question if this was real.

"At this time, if you can't satisfy at least one of those warrants, and you can't stay on the amount that is available for you to post toward the citation, just come on. Proceed down here to the sheriff's office immediately," the caller said.

Brady pulled out the $1,000 that the caller was asking for, but before he got to a kiosk, his daughter called the sheriff's office, who said to hang up because it was a scheme.

"He almost had me that much. But this thing started clicking all together and then that was it. I was like, ‘no, this is a scam,’" Brady said.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says the best thing to do if you get a call like this is to hang up immediately and call local law enforcement to report it.

Below are tips directly from the sheriff's office on how to not fall victim to this type of scheme:

• If you receive a call from individuals claiming to be from the court, IRS, law enforcement or any other government entity requesting payment for warrants, missing jury duty, or unpaid fines, please hang up the phone. We will never call and request payment over the phone.
• These individuals will try aggressively to keep you on the phone and will try to convince you that providing payment over the phone will solve a problem that does not exist.
• Never call the number back, give personal information, or stay on the phone. Take some time, do your own research, and contact your local agency directly to verify this information. Taking the time now to do your own research will prevent you from becoming a future victim of these scammers. Speak with your family members about these scammers.
• If you or someone you know gets a phone call like this, hang up the phone immediately and call your local law enforcement agency to report it. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office will never call you and request money, so please don’t be a victim. If you have any concerns or you would like to leave a tip, call our Tip Line at (602)-876-TIPS (8477).