Advisory: Beware of new Scams in our area
A Lake Lure Resident made us aware of a telephone call they received congratulating them on their recent win from a very large publishing company, all she had to do was pay the caller $5000 to win millions. We are thankful that this resident called us to alert us to this scam whose phone number came back to the Tampa Florida area.
Another Lake Lure Resident reported that a person called their residence and stated that their grandson was in jail and needed bond posted. The person claimed to be an attorney. Thankfully, this person also knew to call us to alert us.
Unfortunately, most of these scam artists are untouchable. Most call from areas outside of the United States.
Recently a Forest City Police Department employee received a phone call on their cell phone. The caller allowed the telephone to ring several times before hanging up before it could be answered. This caller was calling from a (268) area code. The intent of the call/hang up is to entice the cell phone owner to return the missed call. The scam is that when you return the call, you will receive extensive charges based upon the amount of time the scammers can keep the caller on the telephone.
Forest City Nixle offers this link from Verizon where they company discusses this issue to greater detail:
http://www.verizonenterprise.com/solutions/public_sector/federal/contracts/wits3/cust_care/telecom_security_fraud/telephone/
Verizon advises, “One good rule of protection is: If you don’t recognize a number, do not respond.”
We would also like to remind you that if ‘it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is’. No one should be asking you to pay money, to win money. If you are ever unsure of a call you’ve received, please don’t hesitate to call your police department. If you’ve been a victim of a scamming artist, report it. Getting the word out there is one of the greatest things we can do to help prevent it.
The Lake Lure Police Department can be reached at 828-625-4911.
