Benton County Sheriff’s Office Warns of Sergeant Brown Scam

(KNSI) — The Benton County Sheriff’s Office is warning of a scam in which someone is calling area residents claiming to be a deputy who needs to serve papers and asking personal questions.

The caller identifies themselves as Sergeant Brown and says there are pending civil process papers to be served. They then ask for a name, date of birth, and email address. In each case, officials say people realized it was a scam and hung up before any information was compromised.

There is no one with the name Sergeant Brown who works for Benton County, and anyone who gets a call like this should hang up and contact the actual sheriff’s office at 320-968-7201. Authorities say criminals regularly pose as government officials, including members of law enforcement, in attempts to obtain money or banking information from victims. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office will never ask for that information or payments over the telephone.

Police say members of the public should always be suspicious when receiving unexpected contact, regardless of who the person claims to be. They should never disclose personal information like a social security number or banking information over the phone to a person who contacts them unexpectedly.

If you believe it could be coming from a legitimate source, police say to find a telephone number to call the company or agency back on your own and verify if the contact you received was legitimate. A person calling you with a legitimate concern will be willing to accommodate your effort to ensure they are truly who they claim to be.

For more tips on how to avoid being the victim of a phone scam, click here.

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