Callers who demand money are criminals trying to scam you. Do not fall for it.
- Callers are breaking laws, including laws against extortion.
- Do not fall for this scam.
- Do not be frightened — law enforcement does not call and demand money.
- Cases like these are good reasons to abolish the registry.
- Listen to the voice of a scammer at the end of this post, and let us know if you have ideas on how we might fight back against these scammers.
Law enforcement will NEVER call you on the phone and tell you to pay money to resolve an issue.
That goes for everyone, including people who are forced to register.
Recently, we heard from a family member of a person who is forced to register, thanking us for posts like this one.
“I just wanted to thank you guys for all you do and for posting the articles you post. My husband is on the registry and today he got a call from someone claiming to be from the Nebraska SOR office and was told he was supposedly sent a letter saying he had to do some DNA testing on Friday and since he failed to go to that supposed appointment, there was a warrant out for his arrest and he had to pay the $2,500 bond to avoid going to jail for 14-30 days and was given instructions on how to pay the bond,” the family member told us.
Because the family member receives Nebraskans Unafraid emails and reads this blog, this scam attempt failed because the family did not fall for it. Instead, they called their law enforcement agency and they were told legitimate law enforcement would never demand money on the phone. That’s the tipoff — as soon as a caller threatens you and demands money, you know you’re talking to a criminal extortionist who can’t hurt you unless you fall for it.
Nebraskans Unafraid also previously heard from an individual who got a call similar to the one described above.
The scammers are violating several laws, including the law against extortion, when they engage in this bottom-feeding behavior.
In the previous case brought to our attention, the person who is forced to register received a phone call from a person claiming to be Nebraska State Patrol “Trooper Barnett.” The caller talked about the need for a “secondary” DNA sample. That’s a tipoff: No person forced to register is required to give such a “secondary” sample.
The caller, who used a spoofed phone number to make the call appear to be legit, attempted to frighten his victim by saying there was a felony warrant out, but the whole thing could be cleared up for the tidy little sum of $6,200.
Again: Law enforcement NEVER will call you up and tell you that you can clear up a problem by giving them money. Pay no attention to whether the phone number looks real, because scammers spoof the numbers.
Fortunately, the person who received this call was not duped. He reported the incident to law enforcement, and then to Nebraskans Unafraid.
If you have ideas on legal strategies that we might employ as a group to identify, capture and bring to justice the scammers, let us know by emailing us at nunafrd@gmail.com.
“This is why the registry should not be public. It made me an easy and vulnerable target,” the person targeted by scammers wrote to Nebraskans Unafraid. He had the good sense to record the conversations. As a public service and an effort to out whoever is running this fraudulent scheme, we provide the recordings here with personal information bleeped out.
Here is the initial voicemail with the voice of the scammer:
Here is the call back to the scammer:
And here is where the scammer is told to shove it:
If you get a call like this, hang up and call law enforcement.
And remember to tell your state senator this is yet another reason to abolish the registry, which causes harm and protects no one.
Download The Perfect Bad Law and share it with your state senator:
Here are some other posts on scamming scum: