East Oregon News

Harney County Sheriff's Office issued the following announcement on Mar. 31. 

Harney County Dispatch has received multiple reports regarding phone scams in our area.  The scammer is spoofing the phone number to appear like it’s coming from the Harney County Sheriff's Office.

One of the calls claimed to be a Travis Slater, who provided badge #394, and told a community member that they had warrants for their arrest that would be brought up in Judge Raschio’s court.  The scammer demanded to be paid $1000 to avoid arrest.

The other call claimed to be Robbi Murray (a real employee of the Harney County Sheriff’s Office) citing similar information, but referred to a Judge Audrey Barey waiting on Zoom to appear in court.  Both calls are scams.  

If you receive a call like this DO NOT PROVIDE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE, no matter what they say, including verifying your date of birth.  

You can call non-emergency Harney County Dispatch to report it at 541-573-6156 or come to the Sheriff's Office at 485 N. Court in Burns. You can also call Oregon Financial Fraud Consumer Protection 877-877-9392.

Please share this information with family and friends to help protect them from falling victim to these scammers.

A reminder of other scams to hit the area as they tend to come back around:

• Claiming to be the Social Security Administration and/or US Marshal

• Spoofing phone numbers from local agencies such as the hospital or sheriff’s office to get money for an injured family member;

• Threats of arrest for a warrant unless someone pays;

• Claiming to be a deputy threatening the above;

• Claiming to be the IRS with back money owed, making threats of a warrant

Original source can be found here.