‘Pay up or go to jail’ scams hit throughout Oregon

BEAVERTON, Ore. (KOIN) — People posing as detectives are calling residents throughout Oregon and the US in an ongoing scam to separate the victims from their money.

In Beaverton, a man posing as “Detective Robert Williams” called people to say they were under criminal investigation. The “detective” said unless the victim paid some money — that is, “settle up” — they would be arrested.

This audio recording captures the man claiming to be “Detective Robert Williams”

Beaverton police told KOIN 6 News they don’t have a “Detective Robert Williams” on the force nor would they ever ask someone to pay money to get out of being arrested.

Beaverton PD Officer Bryan Dalton said they see this kind of scam regularly. “It’s not unusual to see this. This one was such a unique one.”

Investigators said a man in another city had been communicating with a woman through a dating app. After exchanging some racy photos the man got a phone call from “Detective Robert Williams.”

Dalton told KOIN 6 News the “detective” called the victim and said “he had been contacted by the woman’s father and that she was not 18. And while she was creating those photos she sustained some injuries, and the police were involved because they were going to try and help recoup some of the expenses that the family had to get her medical bills taken care of.”

The goal was to get the man to pay up by wiring money or possibly pay with pre-paid cards — or be arrested.

“As an officer, when we’re investigating a case we would never call someone and say, ‘Hey, you’re under investigation. If you send us some money you won’t get arrested,'” Dalton said.

A similar situation happened in Linn County on Wednesday. The sheriff’s office received several calls about a man claiming to be a detective who said the victim missed jury duty and needed to pay a fine to avoid arrest.

The Linn County Sheriff’s Office said deputies will almost always contact a wanted individual in person and will never ask for money to get out of the charge.

The Federal Trade Commission said more than 400,000 people complained about impersonation fraud in 2016 alone.And the Oregon Department of Justice reported more than 5000 complaints about imposter scam calls — the top consumer complaint they track.

The scammers are clever as they target people here and nationwide.

Officer Dalton reminded people, though, that if you get a call from a person who says they’re a police officer, you might want to talk with them.

“As long as there’s no money exchange you may want to talk to them because they might actually be a police officer,” Dalton said.