Laurel County Sheriff’s Department warns of multiple phone scams

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a number of phone scams that are circulating in the area.

Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, the department’s public affairs officer, said six different scams have been most frequently reported.

The scams include:

• The caller is posing as a grandchild or other family member needing money sent out-of-state reporting that it is needed as bail money or for some other family emergency.
• The caller is posing as the IRS attempting to collect money they say is owed to the IRS and they threaten legal action if it is not sent.
• The caller advises they are sending a check for items or services they can provide requesting a partial amount of money be sent back to the caller.
• The caller advises that a huge prize is being awarded and that a processing fee must be sent back to claim the prize.
• The caller states that they are the social security administration and they need your social security number and other personal information so that their social security check won’t be affected.
• In most of these phone scams, the caller requests money be sent by a cashier’s check, a green dot card, money gram, a check or the victim’s bank routing numbers. Sometimes they threaten that a sheriff’s office or other law enforcement entity will intervene or arrest them if they don’t comply with their instructions for personal information or money. This is totally false!

Acciardo said while residents may avoid some of the calls by not answering calls from numbers they don’t recognize, scammers have the ability to program familiar phone numbers into their calls.

“As always, we recommend that citizens never give out personal identifying information and never send money, checks, or other means of cash,” Acciardo stated.