JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Your safety is a priority, but when a Jacksonville veteran got a piece of mail claiming to be from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, he questioned it.
The letter says he must pay to register his alarm system, but the address of the company registering the alarm systems didn't match up.
Let’s verify.
QUESTION: Is this letter saying I have to register my alarm system or JSO won't respond real?
ANSWER: Yes.
Our cyber security expert at First Coast News always tells us to be careful of letters or emails that encourage urgency, especially if it asks for money.
This is the letter forwarded to First Coast News from a local veteran. We have blurred out his address for privacy.
The viewer says it came in the mail and reads in part “Dear concerned, This notice is to inform you that Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office will not respond to burglar alarm calls to your alarm location listed above.”
The letter asks him to register his alarm system “immediately”. The PO box for the company in charge is listed in Irving, TX.
There are several things here that raise red flags: the urgency, the address, and asking for money.
My sources today are Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and their False Alarm Reduction Program.
JSO’s website says they receive “more than 45,000 alarm calls each year and more than 98% of them are false alarms. In an effort to reduce the false alarm rate in Jacksonville, a new alarm registration program was implemented in May 2017.”
According to the address on JSO’s website, the company they use to register alarm systems is in fact in Irving, Texas. The public information officer Tami Dash confirms that.
So this is real!
Dash says you should still double check to make sure the letter you received is legitimate by calling the company directly. The number on JSO's website for this company is (877) 883-0677.