VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia County detectives arrested 47-year-old Lakesha Heard this week, accused of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud.
She was extradited to Florida from her home in Atlanta after detectives say she tricked a Volusia woman into depositing $9,300 into a Bitcoin ATM.
Detectives say Heard called the woman and pretended to be a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office, telling her she missed jury duty and would have a warrant for her arrest if she didn’t pay $9,300 fine.
Detectives later traced the money to Heard’s account.
[‘Not the first:’ Bitcoin scam costs Volusia County woman thousands of dollars]
It’s a scheme News 6 told you about back in May when Jennifer Bennett got a similar call.
Bennett received a call from someone claiming to be an officer from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
“They told me I missed jury duty and I had a warrant out for my arrest,” Bennett said.
The call sounded real and made her anxious, she said.
“He told me that I had a $20,000 bond and I was able to pay 10% of it over the phone through Zelle,” she added.
The frequency of the calls has prompted Orange County Sheriff John Mina, Clerk of Courts Tiffany Moore Russell, and Chief Judge Lisa Munyon to produce a public service announcement warning the public.
“Every week, criminals claiming to work for the court system or law enforcement call our residents threatening to arrest them for missing jury duty,” Sheriff Mina stated.
“This is a scam,” Judge Munyon said.
“The clerk’s office will never contact you by phone or email demanding money or personal information,” Moore Russell clarified.
Similar alerts have been issued by officials in Seminole, Lake, and Volusia counties.
In Volusia County, sometimes the callers are claiming that victims owe a traffic citation.
Bennett was startled by how much information the caller had about her.
“He had my full name, date of birth, and last three known addresses,” she recalled.
However, when the caller asked her to send $2,000 via Zelle, she said it was a red flag.
“Now if they had said, ‘Send it through My Clerk’ or something like that, I probably would have sent the money,” Bennett said.
Volusia County detectives say Heard is connected to a fraud ring run by a Georgia state prison gang.
Remember, don’t fall for the scheme and don’t get ripped-off, but if you do, email me at LBolden@WKMG.com.