WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The Warner Robins Police Department is raising alarms about a scam targeting local residents.
They say the department has received "multiple reports" of scammers calling Houston County residents saying they are facing unpaid fines, warrants or other legal problems with the sheriff's office.
The callers impersonate law firms, medical offices and sheriff's office deputies, the release said. They go so far as to using the names of actual deputies with the Houston County Sheriff's Office.
After raising alarms and creating a sense of urgency, the scammers then ask for financial information from the person on the other side of the phone.
However, the Warner Robins Police Department urges residents to not hand any financial information over to the scammers.
"Members of the Sheriff's Office will never call you to ask for money or to advise you that you have a warrant," the police department said in a press release.
In fact, they say you should not hand your financial information over to anyone over the phone unless you are 100% sure the person you are talking to is legitimate.
"Please do not share financial information with anyone over the phone unless you are 100% certain who you are talking to," the police department said.
Last summer, the Bibb County Sheriff's Office reported a similar scheme. Scammers were impersonating deputies — using their real names and impersonating the sheriff's office phone number —and asking for payment in exchange for getting rid of the issues.
The calls would tell the resident that they or someone they knew owed the government money, or had a warrant out for their arrest and were at risk of going to jail, according to a warning from the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.
How to avoid getting scammed:
According to the FTC, it is very common for scammers to pretend to be organizations that you already know like your bank, your computer company, government agencies or a utility company.
Any organization that you often deal with could be impersonated in a scam.
Oftentimes, scammers use technology to make their phone numbers appear to be the organization's actual phone number. So when you look up the phone number, that number calling you is the actual number of a company or government agency when it is really a trick.
It is often best to call the actual organization or business to confirm if that is actually them.
The FTC also noted that scammers often say that there is a problem with something — like a virus on your computer or money owed to the government — but they can also pretend that you have won money and you need to provide information to them which will allow them access to your funds.
The scammers oftentimes ramp up the pressure for you to act immediately, the FTC said. They can do this by threatening to arrest or sue you. They might also threaten to take away your driver's license or say that your computer is at risk of being corrupted.
This can be a trick to make you look past the red flags and instead act with fear.
Another tell-tale sign of a scam is that the scammers often ask you to provide money through unusual methods.
For instance, they may ask you to send money through cryptocurrency, wire money through MoneyGram or Western Union, putting money on a gift card or through buying gold or other items of value for payment.
Nine times out of ten, that is an obvious sign that it is a scam and you should hang up and check with the actual organization before you take any additional actions.
If you have experienced similar situations, you can also file a complaint with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.