Differing scams have made their way through our local area in the past several days. The Beloit Police Department urges citizens to be aware of several phone scams surfacing in our area. In one the caller poses as a family member needing money, another poses as a legitimate business and asks you to send money to receive a larger amount of money.
Yet another will ask for banking information posing as the IRS or Federal Reserve Bank. Do not give them information over the phone, and ask for letter service. The IRS will always notify citizens of any action via mail.
Another report taken by the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office involved an internet scam. A scammer used Facebook to scam a person out of personal information. The scammer used a hacked account from the victims friends list on Facebook.
The victim was contacted by private message from this “facebook friend” on Facebook telling the victim how they have received free money from the government. The money was for current Facebook users that qualified who were deaf, hard of hearing, poor, or widowed.
The winner was told to contact Agent Sylvia Giltrows. After making contact with this agent money was supposed to be delivered to the winners front door. Of course no money was delivered.
A good rule to follow is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you feel you may be presented with a scam, do not give out personal information and contact law enforcement.