Scammers impersonate Dutchess officials and deputies in text messages seeking money, personal info
Some scams are easier to spot that others. Yvette Valdés Smith's assistant Clara Masters received a message from someone claiming to be Valdes Smith while she was sitting right next to Valdés Smith. The scammer said, "Let me know if you're available."
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A high-ranking elected official in Dutchess County is asking anyone who receives an urgent text message or email from someone claiming to be her to report it to the sheriff's office right away.
Someone has been sending messages posing as Dutchess County Legislature Chairperson Yvette Valdés Smith.
The apparent scammer requests personal information, requests money or tells the message recipient to call a certain number right away.
Several county employees and at least one other county resident have received the messages from the impersonator.
"As a team here, we just want these scams to stop," Valdés Smith said Wednesday during an interview at her office, "The public to be very aware of them, so they don't fall victim to them."
Valdés Smith suspects the scammer is trying to trick people into sending money or trying to steal their identities.
She is not the only Dutchess County official being impersonated. The scammer also posed as County Executive Sue Serino in a message to a legislative staffer asking, "May I know if you're available at the moment?"
Valdés Smith called over to Serino's office, which is just down the hall on the sixth floor of the county office building.
"So we said, 'We're right here. Do you need us?" Valdés Smith said, "and they said they didn't send this."
The Dutchess County Sheriff's Office is looking into the messages and others in which sheriff's deputies are being impersonated.
In those instances, the scammer tells county residents they must pay money to resolve a warrant.
Some scams are easier to spot than others.
Valdés Smith's assistant, Clara Masters, received a message from someone claiming to be Valdés Smith while she was sitting right next to her.
The scammer said, "Let me know if you're available."
"As soon as it popped up, I knew this was a scam, and immediately reported it to the chair, and we're cooperating with the sheriff's office," she said.
Valdés Smith said that so far, no one from the legislative offices has responded to the scammer. They have only reported the messages to the sheriff's office each time.
A spokesperson for the sheriff's office said that of the instances of a scammer impersonating a deputy, no county residents have suffered any financial losses nor divulged any sensitive personal information.
Anyone who believes they have received a scam message from someone impersonating a public official is asked to call the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office immediately.
