Clayton Police Chief gives advice to prevent scams

CLAYTON — With the number of scam scenarios on the rise, Clayton Police Chief Andy Strait advised WRBN to be savvy with any information you give out over the phone, and you’ll be in better shape to avoid such a dilemma.

He said there are many scammers that wait for the right moment to trap you with wrong intentions. These scammers might call you and claim to be from reputed tech support providing companies, or they might try to trick you into scams related to wired money, sweepstakes, or other convincing scenarios. 

According to the Clayton Police Department, authorities recently handled a fraudulent incident in which case involved the Northeast Georgia Food Bank.

James Brim, Food Bank Director, told law enforcement that an employee of the organization received a call and claimed they were the Food Bank’s President, John Becker.

The unknown caller posing as the president of the organization instructed the employee to purchase four $100 iTunes gift cards and send clear pictures of the codes listed on the back.

The employee did as requested. However, Brim was able to spot the scam sooner than later and was able to redeem the gift cards.

Strait said if you know what to look for, a scam is easily avoidable with the right preventive measures.

So next time you receive an unfamiliar call or email, look to these tips for help:

• Do not pay attention to unknown callers. It is recommended to avoid unknown calls and entertain any unknown service provider that tries to sell services to you. Moreover, if you are really inclined towards their services, ensure you perform online research to know the reputation of the company.
• Don’t get into a deal with wired money. Many scammers ask clients to wire money; it is impossible to reverse cash when using wired money given. If a seller keeps on insisting you wire transfer for making payments, do not act unless you are sure about the authenticity of the deal.
• Never reply to messages asking you for financial/personal information. No matter, whether you are receiving messages in the forms of text, email, advertisement, or phone call; you need not share your financial or personal information with the unknown message senders. This is called ‘phishing’. Eventually, these crooks try to trick you into stealing sensitive information.
• Check the legitimacy of any agency, organization or company calling you cold by doing a quick online search while on the phone. Ask for the caller’s name and company (including phone number and contact address) and the reason for calling you. If this is not provided to you within 10 seconds, hang up. Any lack of identification is a scam.