Lincoln Police are investigating two recent fraud cases in which scammers targeted family members of people who had been arrested or were being held in jail, demanding money for ankle monitors and release.
The scams were reported August 2 and August 5 and resulted in combined losses of $2,162.
In the first case, police say a scammer contacted a family member of someone who had recently been released from jail. The caller claimed the person had been released by mistake and said the family needed to pay $485 for an ankle monitor or a warrant would be issued.
The victim provided a $200 credit card payment.
Three days later, another family was targeted. Police say a scammer contacted the family member of someone who was still in jail and demanded $2,000 for an ankle monitor and the person’s release.
That victim made three money-order payments totaling $1,962.
In both cases, the victims discovered the demands were fraudulent when they went to the jail to pick up the supposed ankle monitors.
The Lancaster County Department of Corrections says it will never request credit or debit card information by phone call, email or text message. Legitimate payments are processed on-site or through the Access Corrections system.
Anyone receiving a suspicious request involving jail payments can contact Lancaster County Corrections at 402-441-1900 to verify it before sending any money.
Victims of the scam should also report it to Lincoln Police at 402-441-6000.
The cases remain under investigation.