OC Sheriff’s Office issues June 2017 Scams Update

In the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office continuing efforts to educate citizens and to help in the efforts to prevent them from becoming victims, the Sheriff’s Office is issuing the June 2017 scams update. A deputy received word from a citizen on May 1, 2017, that the citizen was on an internet site and while on that site, came across an ad for women looking for men. The citizen texted someone and later received a text from someone who claimed to be the woman’s father, who accused the citizen of texting a minor female. The supposed father said the girl tore up the inside of a residence. A few weeks later, the citizen received a text from someone who claimed to be a law enforcement investigator who said the citizen needed to send money to pay for the damage to the residence. The citizen complied and later received another text from the same investigator who said more money would need to be sent, whereupon the citizen complied. The citizen sent thousands of dollars via Western Union. “There may have been some threats to obtain arrest warrants in this case,” says Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jimmy Watt. “As the Sheriff’s Office has stated previously, we advise all of our citizens to be extremely careful about what websites they visit and their purposes for visiting those websites. We do not discourage anyone from their enjoyment of surfing the internet and visiting their favorite websites, however, we strongly encourage our citizens to be extremely careful about what personal information they share on any websites and/or to individuals they do not know. With that in mind, be cognizant about your conduct and what you say to someone as that information could be used to blackmail the sender. If you are threatened in anyway via the internet and/or on your social media sites, the Sheriff’s Office recommends that you stop all communication, save the information you have and contact your local law enforcement agency immediately. Also, remember that law enforcement will not request that you send money to resolve a complaint between parties or to clear any arrest warrants. Finally, never pay any money out to individual(s) if you think it is a scam since that may further embolden the scammer to make further requests for money.” The Sheriff’s Office also received word of an inheritance scam as a citizen was contacted by an individual who said that they were with TD Bank Canada who claimed that a family member of the citizen banked with them. The individual requested the citizen contact them regarding the family member’s account which contained $9.2 million. The citizen told the deputy that the letter did not appear to be legitimate and was not certified either. “The Sheriff’s Office always recommends to never provide any personal or financial information related to receiving a letter like this and we feel that probably the best thing to do would be to not respond at all,” according to PIO Watt. “Scammers will also try to play upon people’s emotions, whether it is greed or getting something for nothing and then without realizing it, the scammer has you. Always back up and take a deep breath and do not immediately respond to any scam based on emotions.” A deputy was informed by a citizen in regards to receiving notification in the mail of a reward for one of two major U.S. retailers with a deadline to activate the reward. Upon calling the number on the post card, a representative asked the citizen for the citizen’s credit card information and said it would only cost $1 to get her reward. There was not a company name on the postcard but rather, just a toll free number to claim the reward. When the citizen advised the representative that they did not have a credit or debit card and asked to send the representative a dollar, the representative hung up on the citizen. “As the Sheriff’s Office has stated on more than one occasion, never provide any personal or financial information, which includes you credit card information, to anyone you do not know or anyone that you do not do business with,” says PIO Watt. “Much like the sweepstakes scams we see, it is a scam if a “winner” is asked to pay any dollar fees in order to claim any prize, regardless of the amount that is available. As we stated earlier, scammers love to play on people’s emotions and one of those emotions is an offer to get something for nothing. Anyone who provides the credit card information would place themselves in jeopardy of having their credit rating damaged and having to take several steps in a potentially long process to get their good credit rating restored.”