Guilford County sheriff warns residents about scam calls and fake fines

Scammers have been calling Guilford County residents while posing as deputies, sheriff’s office staff and court workers, then demanding fake fines, bond payments or money to clear an invented problem. Sheriff Danny H. Rogers said the office will never call and demand payment over the phone.

Callers may claim a victim missed jury duty, has an active warrant or owes a fine to avoid arrest. Others spoof real officer names and phone numbers, keep victims on the line through the blackmail process and say a bank account has been compromised. Imposters can also send fake invoices or letters by mail, and government agencies will never ask for payment by Western Union, MoneyGram, gift cards, cryptocurrency or a payment app.

Hang up, avoid sending money, and call 911 for emergencies or 336-373-2222 for non-emergencies. Residents can verify suspicious claims by contacting the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office directly at 336-641-3694 rather than calling the number that showed up on caller ID.

Rogers said in September 2025 that Guilford County residents had lost at least $100,000 over the previous two years to these scams. He said criminals were using fake voices and burner phones and changing numbers often to make themselves harder to trace. The same fraud tactics have been used against families of arrested people, with imposters posing as bail bondsmen or law enforcement officers and pressing relatives to pay fake bond fees.

Older adults are particularly vulnerable to online fraud. Federal Trade Commission data show reported scam losses in 2025 reached about $16 billion, while older adults’ reports of losses over $10,000 to business and government imposter scams rose more than fourfold from 2020 to 2024. Reports of losses over $100,000 rose nearly sevenfold, and combined losses in that category climbed from $55 million to $445 million. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center put losses among victims age 60 and older at more than $4.9 billion in 2024, with more than 147,000 victims reporting average losses above $83,000.

Rogers said deputies have been warning residents directly, and the sheriff’s office opened a free senior academy on Sept. 25, 2025, at Harmony Senior Services to cover crime prevention, fraud and identity theft awareness, senior health, fitness and elder abuse prevention. By March 2026, the office was again warning about callers impersonating Guilford County Court Services or a fake Pre-Trial Services unit, even spoofing the real Court Services number, 336-641-2674. Staff were getting multiple return calls each day from people trying to call scammers back.