If you get a phone call from Sergeant Jody Towers from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and this person asks you to bring cash to settle an outstanding legal matter – don’t fall for it.

This week the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office announced that a local scammer is using the name of its employees – Towers is a real employee of the sheriff’s department, but not the one making the calls – and contacting area residents to inform them about missing a court date and having outstanding warrants for their arrest that they can settle by bringing cash “in the direction of” the sheriff’s office.

According to the announcement of the scam, the caller sounds professional and instructs the person they’re speaking to not to hang up the phone or else they’ll face additional charges.

While it might be admirable that a sworn member of the county’s largest police force would call to remind somebody about a missed court date and give them an opportunity to settle the matter, it’s also something that would never happen.

“Although our office does have an employee by that name, none of our deputies or sworn staff will EVER call you about missed court dates or the need for cash payments,” the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said in the notice. “If you receive a call such as the one mentioned above and are unaware of its validity, ask for a number to return the call and confirm the identity.

“Follow up by calling the agency directly and asking for the person in question.”

And it’s not an isolated incident.

Reports have been plentiful from all over the country warning people not to fall for phone scammers that are impersonating government agents – including some that are pretending to be representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, 12,827 people in the United States fell for these types of scams last year alone – and forked over nearly $110 million to these scammers in the process.

If contacted by “Sergeant Jody Towers” or if contacted by somebody claiming to be a member of local law enforcement, call the agency that the person claims to be from and ask to speak to them directly. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office can be reached by calling 209.468.4400.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.