VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A woman has been arrested in connection with what the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office describes as a Georgia prison scam ring targeting victims across the country.
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Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a social media post that investigators arrested an associate of the alleged scam operation after a DeLand woman paid $15,000 in Bitcoin.
Chitwood said the scheme has been targeting people with an arrest warrant, and has come from two Georgia prions: Calhoun State prison and Wheeler Correctional Institution.
According to Chitwood, inmates in those prisons have access to phones and iPads.
The scam works by fraudulently telling people they have missed jury duty and owe money.
Chitwood advises that if you receive a call like this, to hang up, as police will not contact you this way for something like this.
Investigators were able to recover about $12,000 of the money, according to Chitwood.
The sheriff said more arrests are expected and criticized the Georgia Department of Corrections for not doing more to stop the scam.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Unit is continuing to investigate
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