Full Notification

As always, there are constantly different scams going around the area.
They are always changing, so we can't list every possible one you're likely to hear, but we can give you some of the more common things we hear, or general things to watch out for.

Don't send money or give personal information to people you don't know. This would include buying various pre-paid cards, money orders, or sending payment online, or through MoneyGram/Western Union. Callers could be saying they're with the IRS, or Tech Support, that they're a grandchild of yours and need help, or that you've won something, but need to pay some sort of fee to get it.

Don't pay for something free like a prize of some kind. If you haven't entered to win something, then you didn't win anything.

These scammers will just call random numbers until somebody answers, then try to get you to give information that could be used later, or to try to access things such as bank accounts. They might need to "verify" things like your Mother's maiden name or street you grew up on, but then they can turn around and use that information to reset your password to your bank account, then clean it out.

The best thing you can do with scam calls is to simply hang up.
Don't trust the number on your caller ID. Often, they spoof numbers so it appears to be calling from somebody else. We've even had our number used by scammers so it appeared that the Sheriff's Office was calling people. Many of these scammers are overseas, so it's very difficult for anything to be done about it.

For some other fraud tips, go to https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0060-10-things-you-can-do-avoid-fraud

To report fraud or scam calls, you can report them online at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1

Again, there's very little we can do on our end most of the time. If you have been scammed out of money, please notify your local law enforcement agency, and also contact your bank/credit card companies to lock any affected accounts as soon as possible to try to minimize the damage.