By Rupert Howell, Emily Darby
 and John Howell
Sheriff Dennis Darby said Monday that last week’s scam phone calls allegedly coming from his office were the work of an inmate in a Georgia facility and credits the U.S. Marshall’s service and its Panola County representative with, “Getting right on it.”
Panola County participates in a program to assist local law enforcement agencies in apprehending fleeing suspects, fighting crime and prevention by embedding U.S. Marshall Service employees within local departments.
Those employees are often pulled together for large drug busts or tasks that require additional and well-trained manpower and to assist local agencies when needed.
Clint Robertson serves as local representative and has contacts and tools available that local county and state agencies might be without, Darby explained.
 Panola County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday began its investigation into a phone scam where a caller pretended to be Sheriff Dennis Darby or another PCSD officer and threatened the call recipient with arrest or fines for missing jury duty.
“If you get a call, don’t give out any personal information,” PCSO Administrative Assistant Robbie Haley said. “Call us instead and give us your name, address and phone number.”
Darby said Friday his department was working through the office of the U.S. Attorney in the investigation of the out-of-state internet phone scam operation. Scammers called dozens of Panola residents last week.
In one case Thursday the caller told the call recipient that she would be fined $1,000 because she did not show up for jury duty, Haley said.
“Our office doesn’t even handle that,” Haley said. Jurors are summoned for duty by the Panola County Circuit Clerk.
Haley said senior citizens are constantly warned about phone scams at monthly TRIAD meetings. “We’re scared that there may be someone out there who will fall for it,” she said.
Two recipients of scam phone calls told The Panolian they received the call Thursday with one of the recipients saying when she answered a female told her it was the Panola County Sheriff’s Department.
She was then transferred to a male who said she failed to report for jury duty and she owed fines and she needed to report to the Panola County Sheriff’s Department immediately or a deputy would pick her up.
After the male said he was “Sheriff Darby” the suspicious Panolian told him she knew her sheriff and hung up on the caller.
She said the caller called back more stern saying, “This is Sheriff Darby and I saw you at church on Sunday and you need to turn yourself in.”
She replied, “I wasn’t at church on Sunday; I was at the hospital.” She then immediately called Sheriff Darby’s cell phone, she said.
When The Panolian called the questionable number a female answered saying, “Panola County Sheriff’s Department”
When The Panolian questioned the woman who answered the call, asking who she was, the woman on the other end hung up.
The reporter called back and an answering machine answered, saying, “This is Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department. Please leave a message and we will get a deputy to call you back. If this is an emergency call 911”
Another recipient of the scam call from the same 662-228-1374 number said the caller identified himself as “Lt. Mark Richardson” and demanded $2,000 from him to keep from going to jail.
Desoto County had several similar incidents last week.
“You don’t do government business over the telephone. You don’t serve summons and warrants over the phone,” Sheriff Darby emphasized before stating that many of those called questioned the legitimacy of the scam calls.
“Some of our citizens were prepared and questioned them,” he said.