The Bay County Sheriff's Office has become aware of a scam, common to our area about three years ago, that appears to have returned to Bay County.
In this scam, a man calls a business—most commonly a restaurant-- and asks to speak with the manager. When the manager comes to the phone, the man asks for the manager's name. When the manager gives their name, the man seems relieved and states he was hoping that specific manager would be the one to come to the phone. He then identifies himself as a Sergeant or Lieutenant Davis from the Bay County Sheriff's Office Jail Division and that an employee of the business has been arrested and is asking for the manager to post bond so the employee can get out of jail.
When asked the name of the employee arrested, the man states he can't give that information, but if the manager will read a list of the names of the employees not working that day, he will indicate which employee it is. The man then tells the manager to send an amount of money via Western Union in order to bond the employee out of jail. When this is done, the employer goes to the jail to pick up the employee only to discover it was a scam and the money unrecoverable.
The Bay County Sheriff's Office wishes to inform the community it is the responsibility of the person arrested to make contact with a person to provide a bond. Also, the BCSO Jail does not accept bond payment through Western Union.
If you have been victimized by this scam, or have any information about it, please contact the Bay County Sheriff's Office at 747-4700.
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Information provided by the Bay County Sheriff's Office
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