OC Sheriff’s Office issues January 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 January 2018 Scams Update. Jimmy Watt, who is the Public Information Officer with the Sheriff’s Office, received word from a citizen recently concerning a potential scam received via fax. The letter was received from a reported financial and investment company from Madrid, Spain whose expertise, according to the letter, is in litigation and business law with a focus on family wills and estates. They reportedly provide legal services in Spain and abroad. The sender claimed in the letter that they handled the estate of an individual with the same last name as the person who contacted Watt. The letter stated that the person who received the fax needed to contact the sender by phone or e-mail so information could be provided that might entitle the family member to the individual’s fund. “We have seen this type of scam before and what is concerning to us would be someone providing personal or financial information in order to claim a reported reward,” says Watt. “It appears that only the last name was provided and in my opinion, that is too little information to go on. As always, do not let the thought of getting something for nothing entice you to fall for this particular situation. If it were me, I would not contact anyone who sent me this kind of correspondence.” The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office also received a report from a citizen in regards to the citizen receiving phone calls from someone claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service where threats were made to have the citizen arrested within 24 hours by the Sheriff’s Office if the citizen did not respond. The citizen did not return any of the phone calls nor provided any information. A check of the number on the citizen’s caller ID showed a Washington, DC area code. “Scammers can spoof numbers to make it appear that they are calling locally or from inside the United States but they may be calling from another country or not where the call appears to originate from,” according to Watt. “As we have stated in previous releases, since we have reported on IRS scams before, the Internal Revenue Service will not call you regarding a tax inquiry, they will send you something in the mail. Secondly, they will not threaten you with arrest and if you do owe back taxes, you have the right to appeal. The citizen was correct not to return any calls as that could open the citizen up to more scam calls. Scammers will play on your emotions so you have to step back and take a deep breath and realize what is going on and not to fall for it, as difficult as that might be.” A deputy from the Uniform Patrol Division spoke with a citizen who received a phone call from someone claiming to be from Social Security who stated that they wanted to give the citizen a back brace. The caller asked the citizen several questions and then asked for the citizen’s social security number and date of birth, which the victim provided to the caller. The victim was advised to contact her financial institutions and have an alert put on those accounts and not to provide that kind of information over the phone. “As we have stated previously in other press releases, if you do business with a public or private business or entity, those individual should already have your personal information, such as social security number and birth dates,” says Watt. “No one should have to provide that information in full and you can even question why someone would need that information in the first place. Once that information is provided, your personal and financial information can be used by a scammer and then your credit could be damaged before you even realize it.” Watt also received correspondence and spoke with a citizen regarding an automated phone call the citizen received saying that the citizen’s computer had been hacked. The automated call provided instructions for the citizen to call back immediately. The citizen did not return the call and was notified that this was a scam. In a similar type incident, a deputy from the Uniform Patrol Division spoke with a victim by telephone in regards to a scam after the victim responded to a pop-up message on a computer that the victim thought was from a technology company. The message stated that the computer had been hacked and a number was provided to call. The victim called and spoke with someone who claimed to be part of the technology company, whereupon the victim provided personal and financial information. Afterwards, the victim’s bank sent a notification requesting approval for a transaction of close to $1,000. Payment was stopped and the victim was advised that it was a scam. A fraud alert was placed on the victim with the credit bureaus. “The citizen in the first report did the right thing in regard to not returning the phone call as we recommend as that could open someone up to receiving more scam calls,” says Watt. “The second individual, however, called the number back and provided personal and financial information, probably out of fear that their computer had been hacked. As we have stated, scammers love to use fear as their primary weapon to get those they scam to surrender money or personal information, as we see in the second example. The citizen almost lost $1,000. If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be a technology company and you did not initiate the call, do not allow them to have remote access to your computer and do not provide any financial and personal information. Do not pay them any money whatsoever. If you see a pop-up on your screen stating that your computer has been hacked, take your computer to a business that specializes in computers and technology to have your computer checked and then cleaned and repaired professionally.”