SCAM ALERT: Family Warns of Sheriff’s Office Impersonators After “Very Convincing” Scheme

JONESBORO, Ark. — Scammers are continuing to target families with phone calls impersonating law enforcement while demanding money.

In an incident posted to social media on Sept. 25, 2025, Amanda Burrow Barker described her recent experience being on the receiving end of a scam. Barker said the call happened the day before she shared her story online. She said she was terrified – and now her bank account is missing money.

Advertisement
Advertisement

📞 A caller said I had missed a subpoena, had a warrant out for my arrest, and needed to pay bond money immediately to avoid being taken into custody. He had all of my personal information and was very patient and even spoke with a southern accent. He was able to describe city landmarks to me when giving me instructions about where I needed to go and seemed like he was drinking coffee in an office and was someone’s grandfather.

I ended up withdrawing cash and following instructions before realizing it was a scam.

Barker reported the scam to authorities, but deputies said the money could not be recovered. According to authorities, it is happening multiple times every single day in our area.

Craighead County Chief Deputy Justin Rolland told NEA Report that the scams evolve into different types. He said several years ago, scammers weren’t using real officers’ names. Now, they’ve learned to pull rosters of employees.

“You take an unsuspecting person who receives a call,” Rolland said. “They’ll call a person and say, ‘I’m Justin Rolland from the sheriff’s department. You’ve missed a court date. Call this number.'”

The victim calls the number – and they answer, “Craighead County Sheriff’s Office, can I help you?”

Rolland said they’ve executed search warrants on phone records and tried to track it back to the originating sources, but it is almost impossible to track.

“All we can do is try to tell people: we will never ask for money over the phone,” Rolland said.

That is something against their policy, he said. Rolland emphasized deputies may call to notify someone of a warrant, but they will never ask for payment over the phone.

Rolland said, “When they start down that road, say no and hang up, because that’s not us.”