A Michigan woman was conned out of nearly $10,000 after a scammer posed as a police officer and claimed a warrant was out for her arrest.
A woman from Dundee, a town about 50 miles southwest of Detroit, was recently targeted by a scammer who called her and pretended to be a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy, the local police department said in a statement. The caller said the woman had a federal arrest warrant out because she had missed jury duty.
The scammer even texted her a copy of a fake arrest warrant, the Dundee Police Department said.
The woman was told she would be immediately arrested if she contacted anyone or didn’t follow the instructions. The scammer then manipulated her into withdrawing $9,500 and depositing the sum into a bitcoin machine in nearby Carleton, Michigan. Bitcoin is a popular type of cryptocurrency.
The scammer hung up once the woman deposited the sum into the Bitcoin kiosk. Afterward, the woman called her family and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to confirm the agency received the sum, which she was told was her bond payment.
The woman then discovered she had been scammed and that the caller was only pretending to be a sheriff’s deputy.
She wasn’t the only Michigan resident targeted, either. Several other residents have received similar calls from someone claiming to be a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy, the Dundee Police Department said.
An officer is now investigating the scam and working with other agencies to recover the woman’s $9,500. Anyone who believes they might have been the victim of a scam should contact local law enforcement, the department said.
“The Dundee Police Department reminds everyone that law enforcement will NEVER demand bond money, cryptocurrency or gift cards for the immediate payment of anything,” the agency said in a statement.
The phone number used to target the woman was a “‘spoofed’ number,” which means that it is “unregistered, anonymous and likely untraceable,” according to the police department.
Scammers can “spoof” their caller ID to make it appear the call is coming from a local number, or a number tied to a company or government agency, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
To avoid falling victim to phone scammers, decline calls from unknown numbers and never give out personal information to unexpected or suspicious callers, according to the FCC.
If a caller claims to represent a company or government agency, the FCC also suggests hanging up the call and contacting the agency using the phone number listed on an account statement or on their website.
Online scams are a growing problem. In 2024, a record $16.6 billion in losses were reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
The majority of Americans receive spam calls, texts or emails at least once a week, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey. About 73 percent of U.S. adults have experienced credit card fraud, ransomware or online shopping scams, the survey also revealed.
While older adults tend to be more vulnerable to scams, “significant portions” of both older and younger adults have been scammed, the survey indicated.
