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GATESVILLE – Gates County Sheriff Ray Campbell is advising local citizens of a scam involving his department.

“Recently, we’ve been made aware of scammers calling citizens and impersonating our deputies,” Campbell said. “The scammers are portraying themselves as deputies in order to get you to pay a fine or bond amount over the phone. The scammers are attempting to make you believe you’ve missed jury duty.”

Campbell said deputies may call about a warrant or a process, but they will never ask anyone to pay anything over the phone.

“You can always check and ensure there is an actual process against you by contacting the Gates County Clerk of Court,” Campbell said. “Or you can always contact our non-emergency communications office (252-426-5751) and ask them to let you speak to one of our deputies.

“While we can’t stop everyone from coming up with these schemes, we can do our best to keep you all informed of the scams going around,” Campbell closed.