‘This information needs to be out there’: Scammers are mining public records to run a slick new phone con

A new scam is exploiting families of recently arrested individuals, using public records to appear credible. Victims are asked to pay fake fees for pretrial release.

TACOMA, Wash. — Megan Dascher-Watkins rarely answers the phone for an unfamiliar number, but this time she did — and she almost fell victim to a sophisticated new scam targeting families of people who have just been arrested.

The caller immediately identified himself as a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy. In recordings released by Pierce County law enforcement of similar scams, a caller tells a victim that a relative has been arrested and booked into jail.

In Dascher-Watkins’ case,

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