Press release:
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to remain vigilant so as not to fall victim to many prevalent scams. As a general rule, it is a best practice to never provide personal or financial information to anyone who calls you over the phone or contacts you via e-mail or text message. Scammers may purport themselves to be a relative, representative from Law Enforcement, the Federal Government, a Bank/Financial Institution, a utility company, or other consumer business.
- Scammers will often contact you pretending to be from a known organization such as the Sheriff’s Office, IRS, FBI, Microsoft, Pay Pal, Amazon, or countless other businesses/government entities. The scammer may indicate that you have a problem with your account or there is a virus on your computer, and they need to assist you in rectifying the issue.
Scammers may ask:
- You to click on a provided link
- For personal and banking information
- For remote access to your computer to assist in correcting the fictitious problem
Also:
- Scammers may tell you that your daughter, son, husband, wife, grandchild, a close friend or someone you know is in trouble with law enforcement and needs money for bail.
- Scammers may say that they are a lawyer and that there has been a terrible accident involving your relative, and they need money for legal fees or medical expenses
- Scammers may indicate that you have won a sweepstakes and that they will be sending you a check to cash and then ask that a portion of the proceeds are sent back to them.
- Scammers may ask for payment in the form of gift cards, or electronic payments or ask that you send cash in the mail to a specified address. Scammers may also indicate that they will send a courier to your residence to retrieve your payment.
These perpetrators of scams will attempt to pressure you to act quickly by threatening that the problem will only get worse if you don’t act now or that you will be arrested if the issue is not immediately addressed. Scammers will mask their actual identity, often using surreptitious phone numbers, which may appear to be from a local area code or use an e-mail address that is very similar to someone’s that you may know. Always pay close attention to details as it may save you from falling victim.
Please be suspicious concerning anyone asking for personal or financial information. If you suspect something may not be legitimate, tell someone you trust what the situation is before you act and potentially suffer a financial loss that may not be recoverable or disclose personally identifying information.
If you fall victim to a scam, please report it to your local law enforcement agency.
