Action 9

Action 9 investigates scammers using your information against you

ORLANDO, Fla. — The call triggered fear and sleepless nights and then cost a local woman $2,000.

She thought U.S. marshals were calling to arrest her. The call convinced her, since the scammers had her personal information and demanded she pay a freedom fee.

Action 9 consumer investigator Todd Ulrich tells us who the bad guys target and what you can do about it.

“You sent me an email at 3 in the morning,” Ulrich said.

“I didn't sleep well last night,” replied the victim. She wanted to remain anonymous.

The woman, who lives in Lake County, met with Ulrich just 24 hours after she got a voicemail that said, “This is an enforcement action executed by high authorities for a federal criminal offense.”

She called back, thinking she had reached the U.S. marshals’ office.

What spooked her was that the person who answered the phone had her Social Security number, and said it was tied to a Texas crime scene.

“They found an abandoned vehicle in Texas that had been rented with my name. It had blood and had drugs in it,” the woman said she was told.

She was also told that's why there was a warrant for her arrest and an Orange County sheriff's deputy would call to confirm. Then, her phone rang, and the caller ID showed the Sheriff’s office number.

“A deputy told me I should go ahead and do what they were telling me,” she said.

The scammer said she had to pay a fee to prove someone else was using her identity.

“If you didn't pay, what was going to happen?” Ulrich asked.

“That I would be arrested. There was a warrant for my arrest,” she said.

She drained her bank account and wired $2,200 as instructed.

Hours later, she realized it was a scam -- the classic arrest hoax -- but this time fueled by con men using her own personal information.

“It's really easy to become panicked because they're good at what they do. They've got the script down pat,” said BBB President Holly Salmons.

In this case, the scammers used a spoofed Sheriff's Office number.

The scam was even more convincing because the woman is serving probation with just a month left, so that arrest warrant call struck real fear in her.

“I've come way too far for something like this to set me back,” she said.

She contacted the Lake County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the incident.

Agencies, including the FBI, are reporting a big spike in these kinds of calls.

The FBI has put out a warning saying the agency never calls to threaten arrest or demand money.

Todd Ulrich

Todd Ulrich, WFTV.com

I am WFTV's Action 9 Reporter.