Scams making local rounds

By Kathy Thomson

Parents and grandparents do not know exactly where their young adult children are at all times, especially this time of year when college students head back to campus, and scam artists are trying to take advantage of that, according to Shackelford County Sheriff Edward Miller.

“We’ve had a number of reports lately from local citizens who have gotten calls from someone claiming to be their child or grandchild, or a public defender representing their child or grandchild who has been arrested, and is asking for money to get out of jail,” said Miller. “This is an old scam, but it has been active again the last couple of weeks.”

Miller said that public defenders never solicit money from family members.

Often when the scam artists call, they are fishing for information.

“If they say something like ‘Hello, Grandma...’ and pause, don’t respond by giving them a name,” Miller said. “Don’t reply ‘Is this Johnny?’ Just hang up on them.”

Miller said that after you hang up, if you are still wondering if the call might be legit, you can call your family members and make sure they are okay.

“The IRS scam is going around again also,” said the sheriff. “The caller says they are from the IRS, and there is a warrant out for you, and the local sheriff’s office will be coming to arrest you.”

Miller said not to fall for the scam.

Anyone that thinks someone may be trying to scam them can contact the Abilene Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker at 3300 South 14th, Abilene, Texas 79605.

The Nextdoor Main Street website flyers that have been sent to several people in Rose Addition are apparently not a scam, as far as Miller has been able to determine.

“They are legitimate, at least sort of,” said Miller. “But you always need to be cautious and not release your information.”

The neighborhood Facebook pages can possibly glean various kinds of data from users, according to online sources.