Some of the scammers will ask you to purchase gift cards for large amounts of money from Walmart, Walgreens, or Dollar General. NEVER EVER purchase gift cards and give the information to someone who calls or emails you. This is always a scam. No legitimate business or company will ever ask you to purchase the gift cards. They want you to give them the numbers from the back or photos of the cards. They will try to threaten you and/or claim this will keep you and your accounts secure. Please never do this; this is a scam.

 

There are also scammers accessing private email, social media and other accounts in an attempt to access your personal information. We encourage everyone to change your email, social media and other account passwords frequently.

 

Please do not give out any of your personal information to anyone you do not trust.

 

We have received several reports lately of the calls claiming your social security number has been compromised or locked. This is a scam, and we encourage citizens to delete and block the numbers and report the calls to your phone company.

 

We have also received reports regarding spam emails. Victims stated they received emails confirming their orders from Amazon. If you have not placed orders with Amazon or do not have an Amazon account, do not open or click on any links in these emails. This is also a scam. Delete the emails and report it to Amazon.

 

There is a scam claiming you have won a large amount of money, but you have to first send money to cover taxes or other fees. This is a scam. No legitimate prize-winning organization will ever request you to send money first.

 

These scammers find new ways every day to take your money and access your personal information and they are almost impossible to locate or track.

 

We cannot stress this enough; do not be a victim.

 

Please be aware and report any possible scam to that business directly and notify your local law enforcement agency.

 

Sheriff Mitchell wants everyone to PLEASE share this information with your family and friends, especially the elderly, who may not have social media.

 

You can also report fraud and scams to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov.