Cobb veterinarian almost ‘scammed’ while out of town, Sheriff’s Office shares warning signs

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents that con artists are getting creative when it comes to trying to steal your money.

Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell spoke to a veterinarian who almost became a victim of what they’re calling an elaborate scheme.

Kirk Underwood was out of town and caught off guard when he got a phone call from someone who seemed to be an actual law enforcement official.

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At one point, the person on the phone even used real law enforcement codes, Underwood told Channel 2 Action News.

Now, the sheriff’s office is warning jurors weekly about various kinds of schemes.

“They made me have a big sense of urgency to take care of this ASAP,” Underwood said.

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The whole process starts with a phone call, and some are non-stop.

Underwood received a voicemail from someone claiming to be a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office.

“This is Lt. Mark Smith with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Department,” the voicemail said. “If you could please get back to me immediately.”

Underwood said a CLC, or constant line of communication, was used to make sure once the attempted scammer had an innocent person on the line, they made sure to keep them on the phone.

Underwood was told he had missed jury duty selection and that there was a warrant out for his arrest. He eventually realized that was fake.

“They wanted $3,000 that day,” Underwood said.

He also did the right thing in this type of situation, telling Channel 2 Action News he called the police and his banker, which helped him avoid becoming a victim.

Major Rick Petrie at the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office said the call is a warning sign that something isn’t right.

“The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office will never call ahead and let you know we are taking out a warrant on you,” Petrie said.

He oversees security at the Cobb County courthouse and said he’s seeing a huge uptick in various kinds of schemes.

“I think the increase is due to a lot of different reasons, technology of course, these different cash apps and ways to transfer money over the internet,” Petrie said. “We always inform our new jurors about these scams, and these are hundreds of jurors.”

Legally, you can’t pay someone to dismiss a warrant and the sheriff’s office will never call someone to let them know about an arrest.

If you get a call, ask the person on the other line for their name, phone number and what department they work. Then, search all of that information online and let them know what you found, it’ll probably make them hang up.

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