The Heat Continues.... And so Do the Scam Calls August, 2025

As the dog days of summer stretch on, I would like to remind citizens that it is still hay season and soon it will be harvest season. The large slower moving agricultural equipment is rolling all around on the local roads.

Although much to the kids' disdain, we are only a few weeks away from school starting up again. Buses on the roads and kids standing near the roads or walking along the streets will soon be back in full swing.  PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!!

One topic that is coming up a lot lately is scams. The Callaway County Sheriff's Office, FBI, the courts do not call, text or email people and say, there is a warrant for your arrest. If someone calls, ask for their name, hang up, look up the number for yourself and call that number. I am willing to bet they will say that person doesn't work there.

A few year ago, I got a call from a foreigner who could barely speak English but he said he was with the FBI and my name had come up in an investigation and I was due $12,000,000.00. I hung up on him and he kept calling me back so I decided to have some fun. I was supposed to send in the taxes which was $5,000.00. I kept messing with him and telling him to take it out of the 12 million and send me the rest. This went on for about 20 minutes and I needed to get off the phone so I told him I knew it was a scam, I wasn't going to fall for it and that I was hanging up. He wanted to argue and after I told him that FBI stood for Famous But Ignorant and that if he was pretending to be a federal agent, he should at least know basic English. He then threatened to arrest me. I finally told him to come on up and show me his badge and I would show him mine and we would see who ended up in jail. Needless to say, he very quickly hung up on me this time.

Recently I spoke with a guy who was in his 40's, well educated, was of sound mind and everything. He got a call from a guy named Ben Franklin and he was to get several million dollars. This guy got several calls from Ben Franklin and also his partner George Washington. The guy was convinced that this was real and went to Walgreens and got $500 gift cards. On the 4th trip to Walgreens, the employees there tried to make him understand that it was a scam. He then came here and we talked about the names of the people calling him (Ben Franklin and George Washington) the fact they spoke very broken English, him having to get $500 gift cards and giving them the numbers over the phone etc.. Ben Franklin even called the guy when he was in my office talking to me. The phone was put on speaker and I had some fun with Mr. Franklin before he hung up on me. The guy then realized it was a scan and felt in his words "So Stupid". As I told him, these people are professionals, they know how to talk and make you fall for the scam in hopes of paying everything off, being out of debt, having money to leave their kids etc.. Just be wise and remember the old saying, If It Sounds To Good To Be True, It Is. If nothing else, give us a call and run the info past a deputy.... 

BE SAFE AND STAY AWARE.

Darryl Maylee, Sheriff.