PASCO COUNTY, Fla. – Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco released his latest monthly community update Monday, focusing heavily on the pervasive issue of scams targeting residents and emphasizing the importance of direct communication with the Sheriff’s Office.
Nocco began by reiterating the office’s “We Fight As One” motto, stressing the collaborative effort between law enforcement and the community. He then immediately addressed the surge in scam attempts, highlighting two prominent schemes currently circulating.
“What’s going around right now is scams,” Sheriff Nocco stated. “Everybody’s getting information about scams.” He specifically warned against unsolicited messages regarding overdue tolls received via text or email. “Please understand that is a scam. Do not answer that. Don’t reply to that,” he urged. He advised residents with SunPass accounts to verify any concerns directly through the official SunPass website rather than trusting suspicious communications.
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Another significant scam highlighted by the Sheriff involves individuals falsely claiming to be from the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, informing residents about outstanding warrants and demanding payment to resolve them.
“That’s the biggest scam we hear about going out there,” Sheriff Nocco emphasized. He clarified that the Sheriff’s Office never contacts individuals to request money related to warrants. “If you have a warrant for your arrest, or if you’re in a traffic stop, and we recognize there’s a warrant, we’ll get you there, but the Sheriff’s Office does not call you. We don’t call you to ask for money. We do not call you about a warrant.”
Sheriff Nocco also touched upon other common online scams, including romance scams where individuals are manipulated into sending money to online acquaintances, and emergency scams where fraudsters impersonate relatives in urgent need of funds, often claiming to be hospitalized.
Shifting the focus to communication, Sheriff Nocco addressed concerns and rumors that may circulate within the community. He encouraged residents to utilize the Sheriff’s Office’s customer service section for non-emergency issues or to report concerns directly.
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“Our customer service section is there available to send information to,” he explained and you can email them directly at css@pascosheriff.org.
He specifically addressed the trend of residents posting complaints or observations on community social media pages without directly informing the Sheriff’s Office.
“Rather than keep posting it and just posting it and posting it on these community sites… Our customer service section. Email them. Talk to them. We will find out what’s going on. We’ll address the issue because if we don’t know what’s happening, we can’t handle it.”
Sheriff Nocco urged residents who see concerning posts on community sites to direct the poster to contact the customer service section. “Tell them to call our customer service section, and we’ll be able to provide an accurate answer.”
Concluding his update, Sheriff Nocco reiterated, “We Fight As One.”
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