The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office would like to warn citizens about a current scam affecting residents in Cherokee County. The scam starts with a collect phone call from the Fulton County Jail. If the victim accepts the collect call, the suspect will explain that they need the victim to call another phone number starting with # 72. The suspect will generally have some story as to why they need the victim to place the call and often will play upon the emotions of the victim. If the victim calls the number beginning with # 72, they are forwarding their own number to another person. After that occurs, the suspect can then make expensive phone calls from the jail  and the calls will be charged to the victim.

In the last 30 days, at least five incidents of this scam have been reported to the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office but detectives are confident that many incidents have gone unreported. Citizens are advised that if they receive a phone call from the Fulton County Jail they need to proceed with caution and if they determine they don’t know the caller, it would be wise to not accept the call. Additionally, citizens that have received similar calls can contact Lieutenant Reginald Phillips of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office at (404) 853-2049 and the victim's number can be blocked and no inmate in the Fulton County Jail will be able to call that number.