The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has seen a recent increase in scams of citizens in Lincoln County, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday.
Sheriff’s deputies are working with banking institutions to thwart the thefts by educating the staff and the public as to what to look out for.
As always, you can contact your local law enforcement for assistance if you suspect you are being scammed or have questions.
Recent scams are generally aimed an older person who is contacted by phone, email or pop-up on their computer. The scammers allege that the victim’s identity has been comprised or a loved one is in jail or has a warrant for arrest and it needs to be taken care of immediately, before law officers make an arrest.
In several recent scams, victims were asked to withdraw large amounts of cash at the bank and either take it home or purchase Bitcoin with it. Once the Bitcoin is purchased or the cash is sent via mail or another service, the victim is out the money, the sheriff’s office said.
No law enforcement or federal agency will ever ask you to post a bond, pay a fine using a gift card, send cash through the mail or purchase Bitcoin, the sheriff said.
Another indicator that you are involved in a scam is the person you are in contact with will want to be on the phone with you while you make the withdrawal.
If this happens, have a bank employee talk to them to verify what is going on. Take your time and listen to your bank employees if they express concern about your withdraw. They are trained and could help prevent you from losing your money.
If you have been the victim of this type of scam, make sure you report it to the appropriate law enforcement in the area that you live in. While it is very hard to get your money back after the fact, due to the nature of this type of scam, the sheriff deputies and police work with the federal Department of Homeland Security who have tools to investigate the crimes nationwide.
If any of the following lines are used, just hang up and block the number. You are being scammed.
1. When someone contacts you first, you never can be certain they are telling the truth. You don’t know if they are whom they say they are. Faked caller IDs are common in these scams, having a local area code such as 308. Also, email address can be faked.
2. An unknown person calls you and asks for personal information such as bank account numbers, social security numbers or anything similar. It is always a scam, hang up and block the number.
3. Nobody is ever going to call you to give you large sums of money, an easy loan or big prize. It’s always a scam, hang up and block the number.
4. If someone calls and offers you anything that you must pay up front for, it’s always a scam. Hang up and block the number.
5. Legitimate business never ever ask you to wire money, send gift cards or deposit cash into bitcoins. It is a scam every time. Hang up and block the number.
Remember, you were doing fine just before the phone call, the sheriff said.
If you have any doubts that the scammer was legitimate, contact local law enforcement. They will know.
“These scumbags make a living at stealing and are very convincing, so be very skeptical and remember you can always hang up and block the number,” the sheriff’s office said.
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