A Newton County woman was the victim of a scam by a man posing as a Newton County Sheriff’s deputy.
According to reports, the woman said a man identifying himself as Lt. Sims contacted her, saying he was with the Newton County Warrants Division. The phone number from the call came back on the victim’s caller I.D. as “Newton County.”

The man, reportedly, told her she had missed court with Judge Ozburn on May 14 and had to pay fines and restitution in the amount of $349.

The suspect instructed the woman to get a prepaid card for the amount and use the scratch off number on the back of the card to give him the funds. The victim was given a different phone number than the one she was originally called from.

Deputies instructed the woman not to have any further contact with the suspect.

Fake check for car
A woman bought a corvette off Craig’s List with a fake check from a Newton County couple Monday.

According to reports, the suspect saw the 1989 red Chevrolet Corvette on the website before contacting the seller Sunday. She arrived around 8:30 a.m. Monday for a test drive, before giving the victims a Bank of America money order for $6,600, according to report. The asking price on the vehicle was listed as $6,500 and the two parties settled on a sale price of $6,300.

The woman, reportedly told the sellers to deposit the additional $300 in her bank account and gave them an account number after they cashed the check.

According to reports, after the bill of sale was written and the woman and her daughter drove away, the complainant then went to Bank of America to cash the check and was told it was no good, and the account number did not exist.