Kootenai County Sheriff's Office sniffs out two phone scams


The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office is warning the public about two phone scams asking for money and personal information. 

The first is a call from a recording claiming to affiliated with the Kootenai County Jail and asking to put money on an inmate's telephone account with a credit card. The number commonly used is 866-516-0155. It appears the number has been disconnected. 

"No one from the Sheriff's Office will be calling you and no auto-dialer from the Sheriff's Office will call asking for credit card information," Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said in a news release. 

The second scam asks family members of recently deceased veterans for money to bring a life insurance policy up to date. The number associated with this scam is 800-772-1233, and it, too, appears to be out of service. 

Wolfinger says his office sees a new jail-related scam about once a month. 

"Don't give personal identifying information or credit card information to someone you do not know or where you did not initiate a business contact," he said via email. 

There have been no arrests made in connection with these scams.