The S.C. Law Enforcement Division has received several reports recently from individuals claiming that callers identifying themselves as SLED Chief Mark Keel or other special police officers demanding money to drop an investigation into the individual meeting someone in internet chatrooms and sharing inappropriate communications or photographs with that person later identified as a minor.
The scammers lurk in chatrooms posing as an adult. After obtaining the unsuspecting person’s contact information and exchanging inappropriate communications or photographs, the scammer later calls claiming to be SLED Chief Mark Keel or another special police officer. A message is then delivered that the “adult” is actually a minor and that the child’s “father” would call at a specified time to arrange for payment to be made to have the investigation and planned arrest dropped.
No such tactic is ever used by SLED or other legitimate law enforcement agency. It is an effort to extort money from people. Anyone receiving such a call should hang up immediately. A complaint form may be filed with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.