Cyber scams targeting local residents have seemingly become a daily threat meaning each of us has to take precautions.
Overton County Sheriff John Garrett said the scams are becoming elaborate, making people vulnerable. He said he has seen losses into the thousands of dollars.
“In our county, every day, I believe that we’ll attempt to be scammed whether it be over the internet or whether it be by phone,” Garrett said. “By Phone by far is the most common.”
Garrett said scammers often target the elderly, deceiving them into handing over personal information or money. Garrett said everyone has to do their homework. He said a good rule of thumb is if something seems too good to be true, then the opportunity probably is.
“We recently just had a woman come in and file a report that was a victim of a pyramid scheme scam,” Garrett said. “And she openly lost about three-thousand dollars.”
Garrett said victims are contacted by individuals posing as representatives from government agencies, tech support services, or well-known companies. Garrett said this is all to gain access to your bank accounts, personal data, or funds. Garrett said no legitimate organization will call you, claim you’ve won a prize, and then ask for money.
“We have had so many people scammed victimized with that stuff is unreal,” Garrett said. “Law Enforcement is not going to call you. Any law enforcement agency is not going to call you whether that be local state or federal and tell you that you got a warrant but you can take care of that warrant over the phone by paying x numbers of dollars.”
Garrett said the best way to combat scammers is to be smarter than them, to be more knowledgeable. Garrett said residents must remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity.
“We had a gentleman come in and he had been contacted by someone claiming to be a border patrol agent and that he had supposedly violated some border crossing rules, regulations, or laws, and there was a warrant that was issued for his arrest,” Garrett said. “And he was gonna be picked up by authorities and transported back to Texas or Mexico and he had to pay $3,500 right then for the fine. Well, it scared the gentleman and he paid $3,500 over the phone.”
As these scams continue to rise, Garrett said nothing should ever be paid over the phone. Garrett said another common scam he has seen involves individuals receiving calls from someone claiming to be the Social Security Administration.
“They’re not gonna ask you for your social security number they’re not gonna ask you for your date of birth because they already have that stuff,” Garrett said. “So a lot of times scammers call claiming to be social security administration.”
Garrett said scammers are solely focused on taking money from innocent people.
“They are heartless,” Garrett said.
