A man from Georgia was recently jailed for allegedly trying to scam a sex offender out of $1,000, and states nationwide have reported scammers impersonating police officers targeting people on the sex offender registry.
Multiple law enforcement agencies across the U.S. told Newsweek that the scams occur intermittently and are hard for officials to track, including how much money scammers have been successful in getting from victims.
Why It Matters
Truecaller, a caller ID and spam blocking app, reported that American adults lost more than $25.4 billion in 2023 to telephone-based scams, with 21 percent (more than 56.2 million people) admitting they were victimized. Young adults aged 18-44 were three times more likely than older adults (45-plus years) to have lost money because of a phone scam in 2023. Latino and Black Americans two times more likely as white Americans to be victimized.
As of August 2024, there were about 795,066 Americans listed on sex offender registries across the country, according to Safe Home. While annual numbers are known to fluctuate, the figure represented an increase of 8,000 more offenders than in the same time in 2023. It’s also the highest one-year number documented since Safe Home began research in 2019.
Law enforcement agencies around the country tell Newsweek that phone scams targeting sex offenders continue to persist and are difficult to track. Law enforcement agencies around the country tell Newsweek that phone scams targeting sex offenders continue to persist and are difficult to track. Getty Images
What To Know
Rashawn Scott, 33, of Claxton, Georgia, is reportedly in McKean County Jail in Pennsylvania after allegedly impersonating a police officer to scam a registered sex offender out of $1,000, according to the Olean Times Herald. His bond has been set at $50,000.
Scott has been charged with identity theft, a third-degree felony; theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking, theft by extortion and receiving stolen property, all first-degree misdemeanors; impersonating a public servant, a second-degree misdemeanor; and furnishing false information, a third-degree misdemeanor.
The suspect reportedly scammed a man who registered on Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry in August 2022, when he purportedly fabricated a story pretending to be “Sergeant Harding” and was told to purchase two gift cards and pay $1,000 in cash to make a fake warrant evaporate. The suspect allegedly even mentioned a badge number and fabricated conversations with other law enforcement personnel.
Scott allegedly said if the scam victim gave him $1,000, he would “make the warrant go away.” The victim did borrow the money from his uncle, as well as activated two gift cards.
Scott was reportedly serving a prison sentence in Georgia before being arraigned April 2 in Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Newsweek reached out to the McKean County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
Sergeant Logan Brouse, of Pennsylvania State Police, told Newsweek that trends targeting sex offenders are inconsistent and not part of a trend.
A notice on the PSP Megan’s Law public website states: “The Pennsylvania State Police Megan’s Law Section will never contact you to request any funds. If you feel that you may have been a victim of a scam, please contact your local police department.”
There were 23,243 active registrants in Pennsylvania’s sexual offender registry at of the end of 2023, when 2,120 new sexual offender registrations were made. The 2024 report has not yet been published.
Mike Manko, spokesperson for the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office in Pennsylvania, told Newsweek that a similar phone scam in their jurisdiction ultimately led nowhere.
“Our agency has not received any additional contacts from sex offenders reporting an attempt to scam them,” Manko said. “I would not have any update on how much money has been lost with respect to scams, either. As of this date, we have not arrested anyone related to that scam.”
Matthew Demlein, spokesperson for Virginia State Police, told Newsweek that the sex offender scam “is a common one that arises every few months” and not unique to Virginia.
Virginia law prohibits unlawful use of the information provided on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry for purposes of intimidating or harassing an individual listed on the registry. Violations can result in Class 1 misdemeanors.
“These scam artists often use prepaid phones and many times are not even in the jurisdiction (state or even country) where the crime occurred, making their apprehension difficult,” Demlein said. “As Virginia State Police receive reports of this scam occurring, we inform the public so they can be aware and protect themselves.”
Currently, there are 25,609 registered sex offenders in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The issue has been more prevalent in some states.
“This has been something we’ve been aware of for a number of years now,” Rob Low, spokesperson for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), told Newsweek. “CBI has informed all of our local agencies by email about this issue, so they are very aware of it.
“It was such an issue for a while, that in 2021 CBI developed a scam awareness form for the local agencies to distribute to their sex offenders. We have a trainer hand this out at training classes across the state.”
The form, dispersed to members of law enforcement, is recommended to be handed out at sex offenders’ initial registration or reregistration appointment(s).
In addition to fabricating police identities and badge numbers as Scott allegedly did in Pennsylvania, those potentially being scammed may also be falsely asked to provide DNA samples to avoid being arrested.
Sometimes, a scammed individual may fax a registration form to the scammers themselves that include personal information like name, date of birth and social security numbers that lead to further victimization.
“We do know there have been many offenders who have fallen for the scam but don’t have any exact numbers,” Low said. “But we also know of some who, because of this form, were not scammed and hung up on the scammers and reported them to their registration agency.
“We haven’t pursued any cases where offenders were scammed. The offenders are advised to report any crime to their local law enforcement.”
The total number of registered sex offenders in Colorado as of April 7 was 19,392.
Lieutenant Jared Sandifer of Louisiana State Police told Newsweek that scams are also occurring in cycles statewide but exact statistics for scam victims, related arrests, and money given to scammers are unknown.
What People Are Saying
Lieutenant Jared Sandifer of Louisiana State Police to Newsweek: “Louisiana law enforcement takes all scams seriously and works to identify and keep the public informed of potential scams. Residents, including sex offenders, should never give unsolicited callers any personal information.”
What Happens Next
Rashawn Scott’s next court date is scheduled for April 10. He’s being held on $50,000 bond.
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