Her county sheriff’s office in Ohio summoned her because she missed jury duty. As she was nearing the office, they had a strange parking instruction
An alleged scam.
Payton (@payton.payton) said the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio informed her about her missed jury duty. She was summoned to the office, but as she got closer, Payton grew increasingly suspicious.
“I’ll be honest, I feel like it could happen to anyone,” Payton told TikTok. She was at work when she got a call from the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office. The front desk at her workplace called and told her she had an urgent call.
When she answered, Payton said a woman greeted her and addressed her by her first and last name. The woman told Payton she had missed jury duty and specified the time and case. She also claimed Payton was notified, but that the notice was sent to her parents’ address.
Payton said she no longer lived there, but the woman informed her that regardless, missing jury duty is a criminal offense. The woman told Payton that she had to come to the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office and sign a few papers because of the supposed criminal offense. Payton was surprised, saying she has a clean criminal record. She asked whether a warrant of arrest had been issued for her, and the woman said no, but she still needed to go to the sheriff’s office.
“I looked up the address, and it was literally Lucas County Sheriff’s Office address,” Payton said. Because of that, she trusted the woman on the line and assumed that she was law enforcement. They asked Payton to leave work. Although she still had one last patient to see as an aesthetic nurse, she canceled on them and prioritized the summons. Payton alleged that the woman warned her not to tell anybody else about the case. She commented, “I should have seen the red flags.”
A strange parking instruction at the sheriff’s office
“When you get into the car, let us know your mileage, because you are gonna get paid for driving,” she recalled the woman’s words. She drove to the sheriff’s office with the supposed law enforcement authority on the line. But unlike another woman who got a Taco Bell Baja Blast Freeze surprise from the officer who arrested her, Payton believes she uncovered something rather unpleasant.
Fifteen minutes away from the sheriff’s office, the person over the phone allegedly told her, “I feel like you are starting to get a little skeptical.” Payton agreed, and while she couldn’t figure out why, she was starting to think the call wasn’t legitimate. The person told Payton to look up the number they were calling from, and it matched the deputy’s number from the sheriff’s office.
“Oh my frick, is this that legitimate?” Payton expressed. But then, the person told her that he didn’t want her to park in front of the building. Instead, he told her to park around the building, calling it a “safe space.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I’m gonna do that,” Payton said. However, the person said that if she didn’t show up, she could get arrested. Weighing her options, Payton was starting to feel like there was a scam at play. She hung up, then called her dad and husband for help.
“I just feel so stupid. Like, I could’ve gotten kidnapped,” she said. Payton felt convinced because the people on the other end of the line had her information, and she responded to their call.
Not law enforcement
Payton left, and while she was driving downtown Toledo, she came across an officer. She rolled down her window and asked her to pull over. Payton explained her situation to the officer and gave the caller’s number.
“She took me into the jail. She looked up everything,” Payton said. The cop told her it was her deputy’s number. However, the officer ruled the incident a scam, telling Payton she would inform the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office about the situation.
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