The sheriff’s office is also warning of continuing scams involving the alleged suspension or deactivation of Social Security numbers (listen to audio). The FTC says that, Social Security numbers do not get suspended.
In all of the scams mentioned above – and their variations (arrest, jury duty, etc.) – the perpetrators are trying to either obtain money in the form of direct payment through prepaid debit or gift cards, or to access critical personal information from Social Security numbers, bank or credit card accounts and passcodes.
Residents who receive communications similar to these, are urged to:
- Immediately hang up;
- Never provide any personal information (Social Security or bank account numbers, etc.); and
- Contact government agencies directly to verify the veracity of calls, emails, texts or letters.
If you or a loved one have lost money or had your personal information comprised due to one of these schemes you are urged to immediately contact local authorities. Individuals may also report cases of fraud to the FTC via reportfraud.ftc.gov/.
This news announcement was published Tuesday, March 23, 2020.
