Green Country Man Out $1,000 After Call From Phone Scammers

"They just put the fear of God in you, you know? You don't pay this here, you're going to jail right now."

Tulsa police warn of a new twist to an old scam that's taking local victims for thousands of dollars.

Scammers still demand payment on money cards, but, now, they  promise to refund your money if everything checks out... of course, that is a lie, just like everything else scammers say during these phone calls

Robert is a man who's been out of work since January and has no money to spare but recently lost a thousand dollars to a scammer who sounded very real and very threatening.

Robert, scam victim, says, "He wanted a five-thousand-dollar bond, you post this five-thousand-dollar bond, elsewise, we'll arrest you." said Robert. "They just put the fear of God in you, you know? You don't pay this here, you're going to jail right now."

He was told he'd signed a registered letter agreeing to show up for federal jury duty, but then, he didn't show, so warrants were issued.

They told him to put the money on google play and game stop cards, then, take the cards to the federal courthouse and if he could prove the signature on the letter wasn't his, he'd get a certified check as a refund. And, they refused to let him off the phone for two hours.

They also told him to keep it secret when he went to Lowe's or Home Depot to buy the cards.

"Don't talk about it in the store because people can do a citizen’s arrest on you because you've got two warrants on you," said Robert.

He says the man gave a badge number and had Robert's full name and address and there was even background noise like a police station.

"Chatter of a radio like, no, he's cooperating, you don't have to go to his house, back and forth, all the way through," said Robert.

Robert put money on the cards and read the number and PIN off the back of the cards to the caller, only then, learning from a friend's attorney, it was all aa scam.

"It's humiliating to think this guy duped me but you don't want to go to jail, even though I knew I hadn't done anything," said Robert.

Robert decided to share his story in hopes of preventing this from happening to someone else.