DETROIT – The son of Motown icon Levi Stubbs is speaking out after scammers tried to trick him out of thousands of dollars by posing as a high-ranking Wayne County law enforcement official.
Levi Stubbs III, son of the late lead singer of The Four Tops, said he received a call recently claiming he had missed jury duty and that there was a warrant out for his arrest. The caller demanded $2,500 to clear the matter.
Stubbs said the scammer used the real name of Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington. Stubb said that set off alarm bells for him immediately.
“I have a relationship with Sheriff Washington, so I reached out to him,” Stubbs said. “He let me know I was definitely being scammed.”
Sheriff Washington told Local 4 that he gets one or two similar calls on a regular basis from people who know him personally. He said the scam is so common for the area, his office doesn’t keep count of how many people receive these types of calls.
Local 4 has covered several victims over the years, including a woman who lost thousands after scammers convinced her she was involved in a federal investigation. They kept her on the phone for hours, passing her between fake “agents” until she agreed to pay.
Washington said the latest twist is that scammers are using real names of law enforcement officers, claiming a missed jury duty appearance or a loved one’s arrest. The calls often appear to come from the sheriff’s office, and the scammers may already have personal information about the target. They typically demand payment through cryptocurrency, gift cards or mobile payment apps like Apple Pay.
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Stubbs said his upbringing taught him to double-check anything that didn’t feel right, but he’s concerned for people who may be more vulnerable — including his 90-year-old mother, who has dementia.
“You take a senior who’s not all mentally there, and it becomes an issue,” Stubbs said. “They’ll fall for the scam if they don’t have anyone to rely on.”
The sheriff’s office is urging residents never to send money to someone claiming to be law enforcement over the phone, and to hang up immediately if something feels suspicious. Sheriff Washington also said that residents can call the Sheriff’s Office if they feel they are being scammed.