WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The City of Warner Robins is warning residents about a payment scam that is going around this holiday season.
According to Michelle Delaney with the city, people are getting calls offering to take alternative payment methods such as Cash App, Venmo, or gift cards for utility bills, fines, or bail bonds. Delaney says they have seen an uptick in these types of scams during the holiday season.
“These individuals are greeting our citizens using titles and names that appear to be legitimate, but I assure you they are not,” said Warner Robins Chief of Police Wayne Fisher. “Nobody from the police department, the utility department, or any other department for that matter, would ever ask for banking information, request wire transfers or payment via Cash App, Venmo or gift cards, and we encourage people to hang up the phone and report the call immediately.”
The release says during the calls, scammers are telling people to pay a fine in order to avoid arrest for failing to report for jury duty or other offenses, and are threatening to disconnect electric and water for ‘failure of payment.’ Potential victims are given options for satisfying payment to include purchasing a prepaid debit card or gift card and reading the account number over the phone or be arrested.
The Warner Robins Police Department warns that scammers use many tactics to sound credible. They sometimes provide information like badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officials or city department directors.
Warner Robins City Clerk Mandy Stella says, "Although it is not uncommon for law enforcement or city department directors to reach out to citizens, they would never demand immediate payment of money to prevent arrest or disconnection of services over the phone.”
The police department says if you get one of the calls, you can report it to the statewide FBI office at (770) 216-3000 and file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
