From Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones:

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is once again warning our community about a major phone scam currently circulating. Over the last 24-hours, we have received multiple calls, and more continue to come in.

Scammers are calling residents or leaving voicemails, claiming to be law enforcement officers-often using real names of our deputies and detectives. One recent voicemail used the name Lieutenant Billy Littleton, a legitimate lieutenant with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. However, we have verified the call and the voice are NOT his.

Here is the actual voicemail (in text) one resident received:

“This is Lieutenant Billy Littleton attempting to initiate contact with a Ms. (resident’s first/last name). I have a confidential legal matter I need to provide for you that requires your immediate attention. If you could please contact me back at as soon as possible, Ms. (resident’s last name), you can reach me here at 423-415-0594. Thank you.”

This resident’s husband received the same call/voicemail within minutes.

IMPORTANT

If the caller leaves a voicemail with a return number (as above), DO NOT CALL the number. It will go straight to voicemail. The voicemail message is as follows:

“You’ve reached the personal voicemail of Lieutenant Billy Littleton. If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 9-1-1. I’m currently away from my desk at the moment, but if you’ll leave your full name, what this call pertains to, and callback number, I’ll contact you back at my earliest convenience. Or you can contact me once again here at (423) 415-0594. Thank you.”

THIS VOICEMAIL MESSAGE IS NOT REAL – THIS IS NOT THE PHONE NUMBER OR VOICEMAIL MESSAGE FROM MONROE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE LT. BILLY LITTLETON.

The scammer is using this voicemail to screen incoming calls, so chances are if you call the number back, you’ll get this voicemail message. If you leave a message, then he will pursue you as a target.

Please note: the caller did not identify which law enforcement agency he is employed by. The caller knows the first and last name of the person he’s attempting to scam, and appears to be polite and professional. This is a tactic to get you to call back so they can falsely claim you are in violation of something-often missed jury duty or an active warrant-and then demand immediate payment or face imprisonment.

These scammers are not law enforcement, but they use real officer names to seem legitimate.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO

If you receive a suspicious call or voicemail like this:

DO NOT call the scammer back.

DO NOT provide any personal or financial information

HANG UP immediately if you are on the line

Report the call to us immediately

To verify any law enforcement call, contact:

(423) 442-3911 during business hours.

If it’s after hours, you may call 9-1-1 to report the incident

REMEMBER

Law enforcement officers will NEVER ask for money, payment cards, or transfers of any kind.

This time of year, scammers are out in full force trying to take advantage of our citizens. Please stay alert, stay cautious, and share this message to help others.