By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Con artists will try any number of scams to separate you from your money.
Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett warns consumers to be protective of your personal and financial information, because law enforcement can only do so much, especially if the scams originate from other countries.
“They’re spoofing numbers and even if they’re in the United States, it’s just so, so difficult to track these folks down,” Puett says. “We, citizens, have to be the guardians or our information.”
Puett says to never disclose information to someone who calls you out of the blue. Mostly, the con artists attempt to get you to give your credit card information, bank numbers, even Social Security numbers over the phone.
“The best way to say it is you have to be very, very protective of that information and not fall victim to a scam.”
Puett is especially angry that some con artists call, claiming they are from the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department and need money to get a relative out of jail.
“They’re in jail and they need bond and this and that and they need your credit card number right away. And you’ve got families that are just horrified and they don’t know what to do. Next thing you know, they’re rattling off credit card numbers and those type of things,” Puett says, adding. “We don’t ever do that.”
Puett advises not to engage the person and just hang up.