01/28/2017
Law enforcement nationwide has recently seen an increase in telephone and email related scams. While the Lusk Police Department has only had one recent report of these scams, we want to educate our community in the matter. With tax season upon us, many scam artists you this to their advantage. Often times the victim receives a telephone call from an unknown or 1-800 number. The caller will claim to be an IRS agent and state you owe back taxes and must immediately pay them to avoid some sort of punishment. Often, the scammer threatens the victim with jail, a warrant, foreclosure, etc for failure to pay. The caller will often ask to be paid via a Greendot card or or other untraceable means. Several variations of this IRS scam exist and often times the caller will know personal information about you. With today's technology and social media, the amount of information about a person contained online is staggering. Scammers will use this information to their advantage as a means to trick you into believing their cover. Other scams include fraudulent telephone calls where the scammer claims to be a police officer. They inform the victim there is a warrant for their arrest and they must pay to avoid jail. Again, these scammers may know basic information about the victim. Such as age, s*x, birth-date, address etc. Another variation of this scam is the bail/bond scam. The victim will receive a call where the caller claims to be a relative or close friend. They inform the victim they have been arrested and ask for money to help pay bond/bail. These scammers typically know a lot of information about you, and the person they portray to be. If you receive a call similar to this always verify by calling the person they claim to be and/or contacting law enforcement. A more recent scam that has seen an increase is as follows: You will receive a telephone call from a local area code. Upon answering, the other end of the line will remain silent for short time. Next a voice will ask, can you hear me; followed by is this so and so. The scammer is recording this conversation and uses your own voice recording to authorize fraudulent charges by credit card or check by phone. If you receive a call such as this DO NOT respond to the caller. HANG UP and contact law enforcement. As always, avoid providing personal information to unknown persons via telephone or email, and remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. If you have any question or concerns relating to these, or similar scams, feel free to contact us.
