Editor’s note: The following article was submitted by the Limestone Police Department and Chief Stacey Mahan in an effort to alert citizens and help them protect themselves from fraud.
We have seen a recent increase in reports of phone scams from our citizens. Luckily, most people do recognize these calls are fraudulent and are not taken in by the callers. However, unfortunately, sometimes people are taken in by these calls, and the results can be devastating. especially for someone who is living on a fixed income.
In doing a little research, I have found that from Jan. 1, 2013-May 11, 2015 we have handled 53 calls reporting some sort of fraud or scam, and 95 percent of these reports were for phone scams.
I want to provide our citizens with some easy-to-remember tips to help protect themselves from those who would prey on them and their limited financial resources.
1. Never give out any personal information (date of birth, Social Security number, etc.) on a phone call you did not initiate.
2: Almost all phones, both landline and cell, are equipped with Caller ID. Please use that feature to your advantage. If you do not recognize the phone number on your Caller ID, or if the call shows as “Unavailable,” do not answer the call. Let the call go to voicemail or the answering machine. Then you can listen to the call in its entirety and make a decision without having to interact with the caller.
3: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will never contact you by telephone. The IRS will always contact you by U.S. Mail. Generally speaking, if you receive a letter from the IRS, it will be to inform you that they found an error in math on your return and your refund will either be increased or decreased. If you owe more tax, there will be information in the letter for you to contact the IRS directly to make arrangements to pay the tax owed.
4: A favorite scam seems to be one where the resident receives a phone call purporting to be on behalf of a niece, nephew, grandson, or granddaughter. The caller will tell the intended target that the relative is in a foreign country, is ill or injured and in the hospital, or has been arrested and is in jail. In either scenario, the point is that the “relative” needs money wired immediately. Advise the caller to leave a call-back number because you need to check with your relative directly or their parents.
5: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There have been some calls, supposedly from Publishers’ Clearing House. People receiving these calls are told they have won large amounts of cash. But before they can receive their winnings, they have to buy a Green Dot card at Walmart, Rite-Aid, etc. and put a certain amount of money on the card, then call back and give the person who answers the security info from the back of the card. You never have to pay or make a purchase to collect anything won in a legitimate sweepstakes. There are some forms that have to be completed because your winnings have to reported to the IRS as earnings. Those forms have to be completed, signed and notarized prior to you receiving your winnings.
6: If you receive a message on your computer or a phone call purporting to be from Microsoft claiming there is a virus on your computer, this is a scam. Do not give out any information. If you are not computer savvy, talk to a friend or relative who is. They should be able to help you with this. Make sure you have a good anti-virus program on your computer, update it regularly and run regular virus scans. There are also some good free anti-spyware and anti-malware programs available to download. Again, talk to a computer professional that you trust.
In conclusion, there are ways to protect yourself from these scams. However, if you find that you have been a victim of one of these scams, or some other form of fraud, here are the steps you need to take:
• File a police report.
• Contact the State Attorney General’s office, Consumer Fraud Division, at (207) 626-8849 or toll-free 1 (800) 432-7825.
• Contact the three major credit-reporting agencies: Transunion, 1 (877) 322-8228; Equifax, 1 (888) 766-0008, and Experian, 1 (800) 493-1058, and advise them that you have been a victim of a scam. They will be able to assist you to help protect yourself from further victimization.
