ABERDEEN, S.D. (APD Facebook) – The Aberdeen Police Department is investigating several complaints of fraud we received over the weekend.

This scam appears to be targeting registered sex offenders. The scam artists are identifying themselves as “Sgt. Cortez” or “Sgt. Lewis” of the Justice Department by telephone. They have been telling the victims that they are out of compliance with the registry and threatening task force enforcement if they don’t purchase Visa gift cards and communicate the numbers to them.

We have assurances from the Justice Department that they don’t accept Visa gift cards in lieu of sex offender registry enforcement.