An Alpharetta teacher is out $300 after a scammer convinced her there was a warrant out for her arrest after she failed to appear in court, according to a police report.
The victim, Holli Marie McCullough, received a call at her job Sept. 22 from a man who identified himself as Peter Hernandez and represented himself as a law enforcement officer or court official, Alpharetta police said.
Hernandez told McCullough she had missed court and he had a misdemeanor Fulton County bench warrant for her arrest, police said. McCullough was also told the warrant would be dismissed the next day if she came to court and paid money in person.
Police said McCullough agreed and drove to a Rite-Aid, where she purchased a $300 MoneyPak Green Dot card. She was then instructed to drive to the Alpharetta police parking lot, read the back of the card and give her driver’s license number.
“She realized something was wrong and walked 10 feet into the police headquarters, where she was then advised this was a scam,” Alpharetta police spokesman Jason Muenzer told Channel 2 Action News.
Police said the number that contacted McCullough’s job was found on a former campaign website for DeKalb County Tax Commissioner Irvin J. Johnson. A call to that number led to a phone line.
Muenzer told Channel 2 the caller likely used software to make the victim think he was calling from a legitimate number. He said the department has received similar calls in the past few weeks.
“They call the employer, get the boss involved,” Muenzer said. “The boss then believes that their employee has a warrant out for their arrest for missing court.”
Muenzer said one red flag in scams like this is courts don’t ask for a dollar amount over the phone.
“No court system is ever going to ask for a dollar amount through the phone,” he said, “and we certainly will never, ever ask for a Green Dot card.”
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