Public Service Announcement: February 21, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SCAM ALERT
The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office is receiving reports of individuals who are receiving telephone calls from
someone identifying themselves as the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office and claiming that there are court
orders pending against the person they called for failing to report for jury duty. He provides dates, case
numbers, and enough information to force the person to question the legitimacy of the call.
The caller then requests that money be paid immediately to clear up the court order against you.
THIS IS A SCAM! THE ST. LANDRY PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE WILL NEVER CALL YOU ABOUT
PENDING CHARGES AGAINST YOU AND DEMAND PAYMENT OVER THE PHONE TO DISMISS
THOSE PENDING CHARGES!
When in doubt, tell the scammer that you will call them back. Then call the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office at
337-948-6516 to see if that was a legitimate call. DO NOT CALL THE NUMBER GIVEN TO YOU BY THE
SCAMMER!
As per the Federal Trade Commission ( https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scam ):
FOUR SIGNS THAT IT’S A SCAM:
- Scammers PRETEND to be from an organization you know.
- Scammers say there’s a PROBLEM or a PRIZE.
- Scammers PRESSURE you to act immediately.
- Scammers tell you to PAY in a specific way.
HOW TO AVOID BEING SCAMMED: - Block unwanted calls and text messages.
- Don’t give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn’t expect.
- Resist the pressure to act immediately.
- Know how scammers tell you to pay. Never pay someone who insists that you can only pay with
cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram, a payment app, or a gift card. And
never deposit a check and send money back to someone. - Stop and talk to someone you trust. Before you do anything else, tell someone — a friend, a family member,
a neighbor — what happened. Talking about it could help you realize it’s a scam.
This is Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz, and this concludes our report.
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