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The Tompkins County Sheriff's Office has received multiple complaints over the past several months regarding fraudulent phone calls being made to community members on behalf of the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office.

These calls are coming in from local numbers and using current personnel names in an attempt to solicit money. In several cases the number has stayed the same; 607-216-6196. They are using a variety of reasons for the call; 'missed court dates', 'summons', 'warrant of arrest', etc...

Reports state that the callers are male and identifying themselves as 'Lieutenant Donahue or Lieutenant Robertson'. This is a scam. Although Lt. Donahue is an employee at the Sheriff's Office, the Sheriff's Office will not call you in an attempt to solicit money in this fashion. As for Lt. Robertson, that is not an employee at the Sheriff's Office or any other local law enforcement agency. Do not give these people any personal information or money.

Should you receive a suspicious call asking for such funds to be 'transferred', 'given via gift card', or 'meeting up at a specific location', please hang up. As with similar scams (such as the IRS scam), the Sheriff's Office will not contact you asking for these kinds of funds; however, the Deputy Sheriff's Union typically does fundraising. This can come in the form of a letter or a phone call, but will not have funds collected in any of the forms mentioned above.

If you have received a scam call like this, you may file a report with our office, but you may also want to block the number to avoid future calls. If the call suspicious in any way and you have doubts as to its authenticity, please contact the Sheriff's Office main line (607-257-1345) or the non-emergency line to Dispatch (607-272-2444) for clarification.

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