LAKE COUNTY, Fla — A fake bail bondsman sounded very convincing on the phone when he scammed a local grandmother. He’s been targeting family members of those locked up in the Lake County Jail and has now started branching out to other jails across Florida.
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“I hope the people find him, so he won’t do it to nobody else,” said Evie Pace. Pace is a central Florida grandmother who was recently contacted by the scammer.
The fake bail bondsman has been impersonating a real bail bondsman who has an office right next to the Lake County Jail. Christopher Belton from Belton Bail Bonds told Action 9 he’s been contacted by more than a hundred people. Many of them have sent money to the scammer thinking it was going to be used to bail their loved ones out of jail.
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Evie Pace said she received a text message that indicated her grandson had been arrested. The message claimed to be from “Chris” from “Belton’s Bail Bonding” which is very similar to Belton Bail Bonds.
“I said, ‘Lord just let me be all right,’” Pace explained to Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal.
The messenger offered help getting her grandson out of jail. He explained he had an office right next to the jail. He convinced Evie Pace to make two trips to a local Walgreens to make electronic PayPal payments. Her payments totaled around $450. After she paid the money, Pace waited for hours at the jail for her grandson to get out, but he remained locked up.
She said, “So, I went inside the jail house, and I asked one the jail’s men. I said, ‘I come to get my grandson out of jail.’”
That was when she learned she’d been scammed.
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The real Christopher Belton said, “It is really just crazy, just how realistic he sounds.”
Since April, Belton has received dozens of complaints from people who claim someone has been impersonating him and trying to get money. The scammer has even issued fake invoices using the real logo for Belton Bail Bonds.
“He’s got our logo, you know, he’ll say what the bond is, the bond amount, the discount,” explained Belton.
One person even recorded a phone call with the scammer. The scammer is heard on the recording saying, “He has a $3,000 bond. Now it could be anywhere from $7,000 to $9,000 tomorrow morning.”
“It’s just disgusting that someone would take advantage of these people at this point in their life and just screw them out of money as much as they can,” Belton said.
The scammer is often using an area code 205 phone number. When Action 9’s Jeff Deal called the number, the man answered as Chris from Belton’s Bail Bonding. When Deal identified himself and let the scammer know he was recording the call, the scammer hung up.
The scammer then texted and asked, “Who is this?” Once Deal identified himself by text message, the scammer initially claimed Deal had the wrong number. But after a brief exchange, he sent the address for the real Belton Bail Bonds when Deal asked for his business address.
The real Christopher Belton believes the scammer is just looking at the recent arrests online and then using some sort of ancestry site or data hub to find contact information for family members of those in jail. He’s then convincing them to send electronic payments. The Lake County Jail now has a warning on its website about these types of scams.
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Belton said, “Most people don’t even have bonds that he’s picking off the website. He’s making up bond amounts.”
It’s a situation that’s hurting the reputation of Belton Bail Bonds and taking money from people like Evie Pace, who could use the money for other things.
Jeff Deal said to her, “That’s a lot of money to be spending for nothing.” Pace responded, “Thank you… and when them bills got to be paid, too.”
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it has received several calls about this, but many of the victims are outside of its jurisdiction. It said the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is investigating at least one case.
Christopher Belton believes the scammer likely worked in the industry because he knows how it works. Keep in mind, legitimate bail bonds companies typically won’t contact you like this. If you’re not sure, look up the real business yourself and contact them directly. If you do send money electronically to a scammer, it’s important to report it to your local law enforcement agency and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center: Complaint Form - Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
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