CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) – This past weekend, the Sheriff of Chatham County and the Mayor of Savannah took it upon themselves to go undercover to identify those responsible for a series of scams attempting to swindle tens of thousands of dollars from the community.
In an effort to catch the culprit, Mayor Van Johnson and Sheriff Richard Coleman joined forces for a covert operation targeting an individual impersonating employees of the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department through fake paperwork and phone calls.
“Reports surfaced that supposed members of the Sheriff’s office were demanding cash in exchange for avoiding jail time,” said Sheriff Coleman. “Naturally, this was alarming because soliciting money is something we absolutely do not do here.”
It all started with a phone call, which wasn’t the first in a recent string of scam attempts over the last several weeks.
However, this time, the scammer called the wrong person.
“One of my young constituents called and asked me about this call they received, with an individual identifying himself as a member of the Sheriff’s office,” Mayor Van Johnson, said. “I called the individual back, and this individual talked to me. He told me exactly what it was I needed to do. I thought this was hilarious.”
That’s when the mayor decided to call his colleague directly.
“We began to conduct a criminal investigation based on that phone call,” Coleman said. “The Mayor of Savannah actually went undercover for me as a UC and me as the Sheriff being his immediate backup.”
Mayor Van said the scammer started giving him instructions, telling him to go to Walmart on Montgomery Cross Road and purchase money on cards, which he pretended to do.
“At that time, I was positioned in the parking lot for his safety and his protection because they said they were going to come out to the parking lot and meet him,” Coleman said.
However, the Mayor said the scammer had a different tactic in mind.
“He asked me for the number off the back of the card. I’m like ‘why would I give you the number off the back of the card? Well, we have to do a quality control check to make sure the card was okay. Once we do that, then you can go to the Sheriff’s office.’ I said I’m not doing that,” he said. “Once I pushed back, he said he was going to put me in prison.”
Coleman said the investigation is still open, but his office does have a suspect in mind.
“Verify any type of documents or information you may receive that just does not seem right,” he said.
