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

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.

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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."

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office is sharing ways you can spot scam calls.

"The most important thing to do is just delete the voice mail and don’t have any communication with them," said Sgt. Farrier. He suggests people take a few moments to think about the call, and if scammers do get you on the phone, don’t be afraid to hang up.

"I’ve had several where it comes from just a couple of hundred dollars to 50, 60, 100 thousand dollars that people are getting scammed of," he said.

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