How to Protect Yourself, Owensboro Police Report Uptick in Scams
Internet and phone scams are a big a problem today as we all know. Well, the Owensboro Police Department wants to be sure that callers don't trick you with their false claims. Here are five common scams to be aware of.
There are so many scams and fraud schemes coming directly to your phone. I think it's worse than it's ever been. Do you get calls, texts or emails that are impersonating legitimate businesses? Organizations trying to dupe you into sending money? Or, my favorite. You've won a prize so "click here to claim it". I know that I get at least three to five scams a day between calls and texts. Probably, ten or more scam emails per day. It's just gotten so out of control, especially this year.
The Owensboro Police Department wants to help you spot these common scams and share how you can report them.
1) If you get a call claiming to be from the Social Security Administration it may be a scam. See this link directly from the SSA about how to handle these scams : https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-10018
2) You may receive a call offering to lower your credit card interest rate which is possibly a scam. If you are interested in lowering your interest rate contact the financial institution directly.
3) Some scammers will call claiming you have a family member in jail or injured that needs money. Do not give them any information. Hang up and call that family member or friend directly.
4) You may also receive a call claiming you have won a prize. They will then ask for some personal information to verify and may ask for you to pay shipping costs. This is likely a scam as well, hang up and call the business directly (do not use any phone number provided by the person calling).
5) Some scammers call claiming to be law enforcement and stating you have a warrant or fine that needs to be paid. This is a scam, law enforcement will not call you asking you to pay unpaid fine over the phone.
Police say that if you have any suspicion you may be the target of a scam call, don’t provide any personal information and hang up. If you have been contacted by a potential scam but did not give them personal information, you can file a report online with the F.B.I. Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) here: https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
If you were contacted and did provide personal information or payment you can call 270-687-8888 to file a report.
If you've been a victim of a fraud, it's important that you report it. And, whatever you do, don't send money and just hang up the phone. We must all stick together and protect one another. Thank you to our Owensboro Police Department for helping to keep us safe.