The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – On Monday, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office posted to its Facebook page warning citizens about a phone fraud case.

An individual claiming to represent the Sheriff’s Office advised a citizen that she had outstanding warrants and/or tickets and would need to repay them via pre-paid phone cards. Unfortunately, the victim fell for the call and was scammed out of a large sum of money, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office stresses that it will never call anyone over the phone to let them know they have outstanding fines that need to be paid over the phone. If a citizens receives such a call they should hang up and report the incident to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.