New Jersey social media influencer helps expose sophisticated arrest warrant scam
HACKENSACK, New Jersey -- A New Jersey mother and social media influencer said she was targeted by a sophisticated phone scam in which callers falsely claimed to be from the local sheriff's office and attempted to convince her to pay money to avoid arrest.
In a video posted on TikTok, Lindsay Angio said she received a call from a man who identified himself as a lieutenant with the Bergen County Sheriff's Office.
"Saying it's Lieutenant Damian Pope with the Bergen County Sheriff's Office," Angio said.
She said the caller appeared credible because he already possessed personal information.
"He confirmed my name, my address, my social security number. Like I didn't say it, he said it. So, he already has that information and then he said, "are you driving this car or this car?" He already knew which car I drove," Angio said.
She said she researched the name and found it belonged to a real lieutenant.
"And I looked him up and he's a real lieutenant, that name at that office," she said.
According to Angio, the scam involved more than one person on the phone.
"There were multiple people involved in this phone. It wasn't just one, that's why it sounded so realistic," she said.
The callers sent Angio what she later learned was a fake arrest warrant. The document was signed by a judge who had died and claimed she was wanted for failing to appear in court. Angio, who was scheduled to testify as a victim against an alleged scammer, was instructed to remain on the phone and was told to bring cash for bond to the sheriff's office.
She said the situation became suspicious when the instructions changed.
"I don't take cash; you have to get it checked basically like through a federal credit union. He says, "where are you? I'm going to look up the one closest to you,'" Angio said.
Instead of following those directions, Angio continued to the sheriff's office.
"They're like 'oh this is the scam. Lieutenant Pope is here.' So, he called Lieutenant Pope. He comes down in like seconds, and he shows up starts recording my phone," Angio said.
During a recorded call, the suspected scammer continued insisting that Angio needed to surrender.
"I'm her husband. What exactly do you need from us?" the real Lieutenant Damian Pope said.
"She needs to come turn herself in or she's going to go through the bonding process," the scammer said over the phone. "She's fleeing and alluding at this point because she not here. Once she comes inside, she's going to meet with the front desk deputy and then we're going to get her placed in handcuffs."
The real Lt. Pope then confronted the caller.
Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton said legitimate law enforcement agencies do not request money from residents to avoid arrest or resolve warrants.
"We don't ask you for money. We don't ask to meet at a designated place to transfer the money," Cureton said.
The sheriff said the same suspects have likely been responsible for the scam for the past four or five years and have obtained roughly half a million dollars.
Law enforcement officials believe the caller may be an inmate serving a lengthy prison sentence in Georgia who is using a burner phone, though they have not ruled out the possibility of a copycat.
Officials also believe the operation involves accomplices outside the prison who have not been apprehended.
Authorities said victims who send money in such scams are unlikely to recover their losses.
