MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — An elderly man was scammed out of $3,500 after answering a scam call.
The scammer posed as a member of the Wilson County Sheriff's Office and spoofed the office's non-emergency phone line to carry out the scam.
WCSO says that this strategy has been used in a variety of ways to lure in residents recently. Some of the other tactics include,
• Scammers using the WSCO non-emergency phone number (615-444-1412) through spoofing technology that will display their number on a person's caller ID
• Giving a legit employee name, including rank, from the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office
• Threatening individuals with arrest due to non-payment of legal fees or failure to report to Jury Duty
• Scammers will encourage individuals to share the beginning and ending mileage as they go to a specified location to purchase gift cards; then have an individual call them with the serial number of the cards for access to the amount that it was purchased for. (This tactic is used by scammers in an attempt to make individuals feel like they are monitoring them.)
WSCO reminds individuals to not share personal identifying information such as account numbers, social security numbers, passwords, etc.
If anyone encourages you to purchase a prepaid gift card simply hang up. Most importantly, please contact local law enforcement if you or anyone you know becomes a victim of a scam.
