Upshur County Sheriff warns of phone scam demanding Venmo payments to release jailed relatives

A scam involving a family member who had supposedly been arrested and incarcerated has come to the attention of the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office.

An out-of-state caller stated that if the victim wanted to get their family member released from jail, they needed to Venmo a certain dollar amount to facilitate the release for Day Report fees and post-conviction fees.

They then called back, stating that the court had imposed electronic monitoring and needed another Venmo payment for those fees.

The family member paid and proceeded to the jail to pick up her family member. When he didn’t come out of the jail, she contacted the jail, and they called the court inquiring. The court was unaware of any previous charges and doesn’t operate business through Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, etc.

The Upshur County Sheriff’s Office has reached out to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and the West Virginia State Attorney General’s investigative unit in reference to the scam.

Please contact your local court before paying anything asked for over the phone. These people are convincing and have personal information to make them seem legit.