SMYRNA, Tenn. (WKRN) — Scammers will target anyone, but on Tuesday, they targeted Smyrna Mayor Mary Esther Reed.
As she was heading to the Town Council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 12, Reed received a voicemail from a scammer who claimed to be a Smyrna police sergeant and threatened her with jail time if she didn’t pay $1,500 over missed jury duty.
“Someone saying that they were Sgt. Williams with the Smyrna Police Department, and that I had missed jury duty and that I had a warrant out for my arrest,” Reed said. “To be honest, at first, I thought it was a joke.”
Reed recognized the number as the police department, so she called the man back, but then he told her he would call her back. After that, the mayor called Smryna Police Chief Jason Irvin to see if it was real.
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“I asked him what was going on. He said he didn’t know,” Reed said. “I said, ‘Okay, when he calls me back, do you want me to play along?’ And he said, ‘Let’s do that.’”