A Salina woman is out several thousand dollars after a scammer claiming to be a Saline County Sheriff Deputy convinced her to send him $7,000 via Bitcoin to avoid being arrested.

Salina Police say the 46-year-old female received a call from a person identifying themself as Lt. Jason Richard from the Saline County Sheriff’s Office.  The woman was told that there were two warrants out for her arrest, and to avoid being arrested she needed to send him a total of $7,000 via Bitcoin.

The caller stayed on the line with the victim as she went to a Bitcoin machine to make the transaction. When the machine jammed before the transaction was complete, she went to a second location to finish it.

The caller became agitated when the victim indicated she was headed to the sheriff’s office to show them the receipts from the transactions.

When the victim arrived at the sheriff’s office she was told there is no Lt. Jason Richard who works there, and that she had been scammed.

Police say a government agency will never request payment via Bitcoin. If you receive a call like this hang up, and call the specific agency to determine if it is legitimate.

Total loss is $7,000