A young Athens woman and two elderly women were recent victims of scams initiated with phone calls.
All three women were fooled by callers who wanted them to pay for various services with gift cards, which police have said should be a red flag for possible fraud.
On Tuesday, a 31-year-old Watkinsville woman reported to Athens-Clarke police that she received a call from a person identifying himself as a police sergeant and telling her that she would be arrested if she didn’t pay a $900 fine for missing jury duty.
Due to COVID, she was told to purchase Green Dot cards at a Dollar General store and provide the activation numbers and then report to the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office in Athens, according to the report.