OC Sheriff’s Office issues February 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 February 2018 Scams Update. A deputy from the Sheriff’s Office received a post from a social media account. The individual claimed that they received a call from a Deputy James Marshall with the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office. The caller said that the citizen had missed a jury subpoena and needed to send $2,000 or the citizen would be arrested. The citizen asked for the caller to hold so they could contact the Sheriff’s Office, upon which the caller became confrontational and said a deputy was on the way to arrest the citizen. The citizen then hung up on the caller. “First of all, if someone does have an active arrest warrant, the deputy will make an arrest but in terms of any court costs or fines, a deputy will never deal or ask for money or make arrangements for someone to pay court costs or fines or pay money in order to clear an valid arrest warrant so this is a scam,” says Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jimmy Watt. “The citizen did the right thing by asking the person calling to hold until they called the Sheriff’s Office to verify and then hung on the caller when they became confrontational.” The Sheriff’s Office received word from a citizen in regards to a text message that was received from someone thought to be a friend of the citizen stating that they had received a grant from the government that did not need to be paid back and that the citizen’s name was listed as a winner. The citizen was notified of a website to contact the company about the grant, which the citizen did. The citizen was notified to provide picture identification and how much the citizen’s social security check was each month. The citizen provided the information and was told to send $900 for handling fees. After realizing that it was a scam, the citizen stopped communicating with the person and did contact the friend whom the citizen thought that the text came from, whereupon the citizen’s friend was notified that the friend had not sent the text. The citizen did not suffer any financial loss and was going to contact the Social Security Administration as well. In a similar scam reported to the Sheriff’s Office, a citizen spoke to a deputy concerning receiving a message from a friend on Facebook who stated that by sending a money order in the amount of $1,500, the citizen could receive $250,000. The citizen purchased the money order and was instructed to send the money order to an address in Florida. Later, the citizen contacted the friend, with the friend stating that they never sent the message and that the friend’s account had been hacked. The citizen, thankfully, was able to obtain the money back that was spent on the money order. “If you receive an e-mail, text or some type of notification from someone who is claiming to be a friend notifying you that you have won something and it sounds too good to be true, always use caution because more often than not, it is,” says Watt. “If someone who says they are your friend contacts you in regards to something like this, please contact your friend to double check and make sure that they have initiated the communication because there stands the possibility that their account may have been hacked.” In regards to another internet related scam, the Sheriff’s Office received word from a citizen who stated that they were on the internet when an ad popped up. The ad claimed to be from a software manufacturer that stated the citizen’s computer had a bug on it to that needed to be fixed. The ad had a number which the citizen called and was informed that money could be paid to remove the bug from the computer. The citizen feared it was a scam and took the computer to have it repaired. The card used to pay for the reported service was cancelled by the citizen. “As we have stated on previous occasions, if you do not make contact with a software or technology company about a problem with your computer, do not provide them any contact or personal information or money to fix a problem they say you have with your computer,” says Watt. “By agreeing to provide remote access to your computer, an individual could place viruses or malware on your computer or seize your computer and hold it for some type of ransom. Make sure to back up any important files you have, do not pay ransom money to the party who seized your computer as that could embolden the individual(s) who are responsible for committing such an act and if something like this happens to you, we would recommend that you take your computer to a business that specializes in computer repair to have your computer properly cleaned and checked out.” The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office also received word from a citizen regarding a phone call the victim received from an individual who claimed to have a lien on the victim’s house due to a warrant that had been issued regarding an unpaid account for a national retailer. The victim spoke to the individual and stated that they did not have an account with this particular retailer. The person on the phone said the incident occurred back in 2004, that the warrant was 45 days old and that the victim owed a fine for $6,900, but, the issue could be resolved for $700. Due to the victim being upset and not thinking clearly, according to the case report, the victim paid the subject the money, but the victim never received confirmation. The victim was advised to contact the bank and cancel the debit card used to make the payment. “First of all, law enforcement would never issue an arrest warrant for an individual in regards to an unpaid account since something like this would probably fall under some type of civil matter, if it was legitimate at all,” according to Watt. “Scammers always will play on your emotions and in this case, it is the fear of being arrested. One must always take a deep breath, step back and understand what is going on. Scammers want you to act hastily as you do not make good decisions in that regard. Once money is lost, it is virtually impossible to recover. Also, a law enforcement officer will never accept payments of any kinds to cover the cost of fines or court costs.” A deputy from the Uniform Patrol Division spoke with a complainant recently who stated they were contacted by phone and told that if the complainant put money on gift cards and provided them with the PIN numbers that they could make a profit return on the money put on the cards. The complainant put money on numerous cards totaling approximately $11,000. The complainant told the deputy that they would be canceling their checking account since the caller could have had access to the account and they were also advised to keep track of their credit report as well. The complainant discovered that the money put on the cards had been taken off the cards. “One of the sure signs of a scam is being asked to place money on a prepaid card of some sort and then being asked to provide the PIN numbers for the cards,” says Watt. “Once an individual has the PIN numbers, they can remove the amount of money that has been placed on the cards and then it is virtually impossible to recover any lost funds. Always remember, if an offer sounds too good to be true, more often than not it is and you should stay away and don’t participate in such offers.” Watt was also notified by a citizen who stated that they received correspondence in the mail regarding a company in California who sent correspondence to the citizen that stated for $86 that they could obtain a copy of the deed that had been recently recorded and also a property assessment as well. “While this may not technically fall under the realm of a scam since this information is considered public record, I received word from the Auditor’s Office that someone could obtain this information, if they so desire, free of charge online or at their local tax office where the copy costs would be minimal, maybe only 25 cents a page,” says Watt. The Sheriff’s Office also continues to hear from citizens from time to time regarding IRS scams and there is a possibility that those scams may increase with tax season upon us. One citizen told Watt that they received two phone calls stating arrest warrants had been taken out on the citizen due to back taxes that were owed. The two numbers that showed up on the citizen’s caller ID stated they were from Florida and from New Jersey. “As we have stated in previous releases, the Internal Revenue Service will contact you by mail if there is an issue with your taxes but they will never contact you by phone,” according to Watt. “And even if there is an issue with your taxes, you do have a right to an appeal but the IRS will not obtain an arrest warrant and threaten you with an arrest, which goes back to what we said earlier in regards to fear being used as a tactic by scammers. The best place where you can report an IRS scam online is at the following website address for the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml. “Also, be aware that scammers can through spoofing make it appear they are calling locally or really from anywhere,” continues Watt. “If you receive a call and you do not recognize the number on your caller ID, do not answer the calls as that may open you up for more scam calls.” Finally, Watt spoke with Kenny Johns, Probate Court Judge for Oconee County, who stated that he spoke with a citizen who stated a person called who presented themselves as the Probate Judge asking for personal information such as social security numbers. “Judge Johns assured me and wanted to assure the citizens of Oconee County that he will not contact citizens of Oconee County to solicit personal information of any sort, such as Social Security numbers,” states Watt. “Never provide any type of personal information if someone calls you on the phone. Organizations and businesses that you do business with will already have that information on file.”