OC Sheriff’s Office issues June 2018 Scams Update

In their continuing efforts to educate and inform citizens and to prevent them from becoming victims of scams, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office releases the June 2018 Scams Update. The Sheriff’s Office received word from a citizen who informed the deputy that they received a call from someone claiming to be from the Sheriff’s Office who informed the citizen that they had an outstanding fine due. The caller stated that if the citizen did not pay the fine that an arrest warrant would be issued against him. The caller was reportedly adamant that the fine could not be paid with a check and that the citizen had to obtain some Green Dot cards and apply money to them to pay the fine. The deputy advised the citizen that this was a scam and not to follow through with any request the caller made. “Back in May, we issued a separate release regarding a similar scam in which the real names of some of our officers, including Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw, was mentioned,” says Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jimmy Watt. “As we have stated in previous releases, law enforcement officers do not handle any type of fines or court costs related to a case. If there is an lawful arrest warrant issued, officer have the right to place under arrest the subject whose name and other personal identifying information is listed on the warrant but an officer will not call someone and threaten an arrest due to a fine not being paid. Also, as we have stated previously, legitimate businesses, organizations and agencies will not request payment for any type of service or fine using a prepaid card. Once the PIN number for the card is given out, then the money can be transferred off the card and recovery of the money is virtually impossible.” The Sheriff’s Office also received word from a citizen regarding a fraud incident in which the citizen told the deputy that she had been communicating with a man online, however, the citizen did not have much information on the man’s identity, other than the man’s online name. The citizen thought the man was going to help her family financially and provided the man her banking information after being asked. Within a couple of hours, the woman received word from her bank that her account was in the negative $20,000. The citizen has not been contacted by the man since the incident. Another citizen informed a deputy that she met a man online who claimed to work overseas but lives in the southeastern part of the United States. After befriending the individual, the man asked her to send money for food and work supplies as well. The victim sent money to the individual but would not provide a dollar amount to the deputy who told the victim that this was a common scam. “These two scams sound similar to Sweetheart Scams that we hear about,” says Watt. “Someone a victim meets online gains that victims trust and in some cases, the victim will supply money or personal identifying information or financial account information to the scammer and in turn, the victim suffers financial loss or their personal information is compromised and then it is a long process to correct the problem. Never provide any money or personal identity or financial information to anyone you do not know and that you meet over the internet or social media. Don’t become a victim due to someone playing on your emotions or feelings.” The Sheriff’s Office continues to hear from some of our citizens regarding IRS scams. One of our citizens reported that they received a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS stating they had a warrant for the citizen’s arrest due to a problem with their taxes. “The Internal Revenue Service will not contact you by telephone making any threats to have you arrested due to tax issues,” according to Watt. “The IRS will notify you by mail if there is a problem with your taxes. We always recommended to our citizens to hang up on scammers and do not engage in conversation with them and for that matter, not to answer the phone if you do not recognize the number on your caller ID. If you think you may have an issue with the IRS concerning your taxes, you can contact them directly at 1-800-829-1040. You can also fill out form online to report an IRS scam directly to The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at www.tigta.gov or through the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov.” A deputy received word and a letter recently from a citizen that the citizen received from Spain concerning a supposed lottery in which the citizen was informed that they had won over $4,000,000. According to the letter, the program was designed and promoted by the EU with collaboration of the US Government and some other international lottery institutes. The citizen was asked in the letter to contact an individual in Spain in regards to processing and remittance of the winnings and that the citizen must come to Madrid to pick up the winnings or the citizen could pay a diplomatic delivery charge for the check to be delivered to the citizen. The letter also stated that the lottery should be notified by the citizen should there be any changes to the citizen’s personal details or address. “Normally in order to win money or prizes in a sweepstakes, the individual normally has to enter the sweepstakes in the first place,” says Watt. “One of the surest signs of a scam in this case is the fact that the citizen would have to pay a charge if they did not travel overseas in order to claim their prize. Do not be taken in by the opportunity that is presented to you to win something for nothing or very little.”