Manatee County Sheriffs Office Scam Alert

'They'll try to get you to act fast:' Manatee County Sheriff's Office shows ins and outs of scam calls

By Kimberly Kuizon

Updated March 22, 2024 6:05pm EDT

FOX 13 News

Scam alert: Manatee deputies warn of fake calls

A scam call pretending to come from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office has the agency putting out an alert and sharing ways to spot the bogus messages.

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. - The Manatee County Sheriff's Office is sharing examples of what the agency calls "red flags" to help spot scammers.

Odds are you’ve gotten at least one a day. Scam calls have become the new normal.

"They’ll basically put some sort of urgency in it. They’ll try to get you to act fast," said Sgt. Jason Farrier with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

Sgt. Farrier says one call, in particular, claiming to be "Lieutenant Branberry" has been circulating county-wide.

To help the public identify a spam call, the sheriff’s office released a video showing obvious signs to look for.

"They’re good, but they have a lot of things they are not good on. As far as identifying different components of the agency, direct messaging with the agency, misrepresenting titles of divisions and things like that," said Sgt. Farrier.

In addition to using a fake email and phone number to ask for a payment, there are small discrepancies; things like "sheriff's department" instead of "sheriff's office."