Don’t be fooled by scams
It seems as if it’s nearly every week that this newspaper is contacted by a police agency asking us to advise our readers about the latest scam that’s being perpetrated.
Most recently, the U.S. Marshals Service warned that there’s a nationwide telephone scam that has made its way to Southwestern Pennsylvania.
As we reported earlier this week, people are getting calls from folks claiming to be a U.S. marshal, court officer or other law enforcement official advising that the recipients of the calls have failed to report for jury duty and must, if they hope to avoid jail, make arrangements to pay their fines.
The people running the scam are not amateurs. They sometimes provide information such as badge numbers, the names of actual federal judges and addresses of courthouses. Then they demand that those on the other end of the line use a reloadable credit card to start the process of paying their fines.
Of course, it’s all made up, but there are enough people who fall for these scams to make them a real money-making proposition for those behind them.
The Marshals Service said people who receive these calls should, of course, refuse to divulge any personal or financial information to these shysters.
And the folks running this scam, unfortunately, have plenty of company. One of the more common schemes is to call someone and tell them they have won a major cash prize or lottery, and that all they must do to claim these millions is provide some money up front to cover certain fees. Another ruse that’s become common in recent years is calling people and telling them that a relative has been arrested in some far-flung location and needs bail money.
Sadly, the victims of these scams are often elderly folks who might not be as sharp as they once were, and it’s not uncommon for them to be parted from thousands of dollars in their bank accounts.
The best advice we can give is to be highly skeptical of any call that includes a request for money, and to call the police if you receive one.