Glamorous influencer tearfully reveals how she fell victim to predatory police scam: 'He sounded so legitimate'

A glamorous influencer has tearfully revealed how she was almost scammed into handing over thousands of dollars by swindlers pretending to be police.

Isabelle Lux, a 33-year-old mother-to-be from Palm Beach, Florida, received a phone call from her local sheriff's department on Friday.

The man on the other end of the line almost scared her into transferring cash, threatening her with a 72 hour hold in jail if she didn't comply.

Now, she's told DailyMail.com the terrifying extent of the scam in an effort to ensure the same thing doesn't happen to anybody else.

'I consider myself on top of these things and genuinely educated enough to not be fooled by something,' she said.

'But the way this person was trained to weave a narrative - it just felt so real.' 

A glamorous influencer has tearfully revealed how she was almost scammed into handing over thousands of dollars by swindlers pretending to be police

The number itself was the genuine number for her local sheriff's department. 'It was the first thing I checked,' she said.

'He gave me his name, a badge number. He had all my information.' 

The phony officer told Isabelle she'd failed to turn up for jury duty, and that as a result there was a warrant out for her arrest.

Upon learning that she was pregnant - and would have had a legitimate excuse to skip jury duty - the scammer changed his tune, and tried to appear sympathetic to her plight.

'He was just taking every word I said and logging it. He was using my own words against me,' she said.

Isabelle Lux, a 33-year-old mother-to-be from Palm Beach , Florida , received a phone call from her local sheriff's department on Friday

The scammer assured her that the police department didn't want to see her spend three nights in jail - which he claimed was the standard punishment for skipping out on jury duty.

Instead, he offered another solution: paying a fine.

'It was a psychological tactic that worked on me and made me feel really clouded, because he said we can either put you on a hold in a jail cell or you can pay for the fines - he was saying they don't want to put me on a hold because that wouldn't be good for me and my baby and I thought ''well thank you for thinking of my baby'',' Isabelle said.

'I thought that [the fine] sounded much more reasonable.'

Isabelle said she'd always thought it 'sounded ridiculous' when she'd hear how other people had fallen for scams, but by the time the pretend cop had delivered the punchline, she was already emotional and her judgement 'clouded' by the stress.

'To frame this interaction - I've never been contacted by the police. Now, I know that's not how they communicate, they wouldn't call,' she said.

'But I don't have experience with the police or the law system at all. And this man sounded very well educated, he sounded clear, it all sounded very legitimate.' 

Isabelle's husband arrived home in the nick of time, and sensing a problem, called the local sheriff's department from his own phone

Isabelle's husband arrived home in the nick of time, and sensing a problem, called the local sheriff's department from his own phone.

The couple were swiftly told not to pay any money, and assurred that police were not looking for Isabelle.

In fact, they said they were aware scammers had found a way to mimic their phone numbers in an effort to scare everyday Americans into handing over money.

'They said this is so widespread, they hear of it every single day,' Isabelle said.

'It's scary... We were very lucky.'

Isabelle said she hoped by sharing her own experience, others might become more vigilant about the dangers

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans reported total losses of $10billion to fraudsters in 2023.

The Federal Communications Commission issued a warning about phone number spoofing in particular, revealing scammers 'often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number, or spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust. 

'If you answer, they use scam scripts to try to steal your money or valuable personal information, which can be used in fraudulent activity.'

Isabelle said she hoped by sharing her own experience, others might become more vigilant about the dangers. 

'I would just say, these people are very educated - at least, educated in scamming,' she said.

'The person I spoke to was clearly worded, the line was clear, but he was moving so quickly that I couldn't really fact check.

'Be aware of how widespread phone scams are, and that number masking is real. Not enough people know this - I certainly didn't.'

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans reported total losses of $10billion to fraudsters in 2023