ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - The Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office (DOCOSO) warns that scammers are now using their phone number after a local business owner and resident was scammed out of $10,000.

According to the sheriff’s office, there has been an uptick in scammer calls. They have seen up to 40 calls in the last month and over 100 for the year.

“They can Spoof the number. so it’s like a Google app, and they’re using a Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office number making people believe that it’s us, but it’s not us,” Lt. Anthony Crimbley said.

The sheriff’s office said that these scammers are spoofing the sheriff’s office number to call residents and ask them to deposit money through bitcoin at a kiosk. In addition, DOCOSO said these scammers are gathering information about the victims online and are comprising documents with their e-signatures.

One local business owner was scammed out of $10,000. The business owner requested anonymity because he said he’s a little embarrassed, but he wants to help the others from falling victim. The scammers were able to access his information online and trick him into sending money in bitcoin.

“[The business owner] said he felt something wrong when they told him to go to a gas station and put the money in a bitcoin machine,” Crimbley said. “And once the money is deposited, it turns it into digital funds, and the money is gone.”

Officials said these savvy scammers will make you believe that you’re talking to law enforcement. They sometimes have sirens on in the background and transfer you to other scammers who ask for money.

“Any scams — they’re going to make it urgent. It’ll be about money. They’ll tell you not to contact law enforcement and they’ll threaten you with a warrant,” Captain Kenneth Jordan said. “If you’re unsure if it’s a scam or not, the best thing to do is come down to the sheriff’s office in person. In person is always better than over the phone.”

Lt. Thomas said it’s easy for scammers to get all of your information from a quick Google search. The scammers even had an e-signature of the victim, showing that the victim signed an agreement to pay, when in fact, it wasn’t him.

“In this computer age, everything is online. It’s so many ways; they have his phone number. Everything is public now. They can go online and search the property records and see whose name the property is in. We have paperwork that’s online that has the actual signature, and they can pull that” Lt. Thomas said.

The Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office said if you’re unsure if you’re being scammed, stop what you’re doing, and go to the sheriff’s office in person. Remember — law enforcement will never ask you for money, according to DOCOSO.

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