Fake Sheriff Deputy threatens to arrest retired Navy officer for not paying fine

A retired Navy officer in California is warning his neighbors after a scammer impersonating as a San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy reportedly tried to extort him for money under threats of arrest.

Navy veteran Ed Oliver claimed he received the call on Thursday, where the “deputy” used the name of an actual deputy and judge, threatening to arrest Oliver if he did not pay a fine.

“He was pretty convincing he had a script every question I asked him trying to draw out information he had an answer for,” said Oliver.

Oliver then claims he noticed a voicemail from someone claiming to be from the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, requesting an immediate call back.

“He said I was in an accident last year where I signed off as a witness and I failed to show up for court therefore I had these two citations,” said Oliver. “I had two options, I could either be arrested right now – the reason I wasn’t arrested already was that I had a clean record – the second was that I could pay a fine.”

However, two things stuck out for Oliver- he had never been in an accident and the fine was to be paid in cash. When he informed law enforcement, more discrepancies appeared, such as an improper rank attributed to the named deputy.

“They recognized it as a scam right away, but what’s surprising and shocking is that the names involved that the individual gave are actual employees of the city,” said Oliver.

Oliver isn’t the only person who has been called by the police impersonator- another man in the area posted on Facebook that he too had been called and threatened.

According to Fox5, the retired Naval officer is spreading to word so that people don’t fall prey to the scam.

“Either a senior citizen or someone younger might fall victim to this,” he said. “This guy was really good and he’s going to hurt somebody.”

© 2016 Bright Mountain Media, Inc.

All rights reserved. The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Bright Mountain Media, Inc. which may be contacted at info@brightmountainmedia.com, ticker BMTM.