Macon Police Chief Warns of Various Area Scams
Macon, Missouri – Macon Police Chief Steve Olinger would like to provide a word of caution to the citizens of Macon and surrounding areas concerning the various scams that seem to have been circulating in the area during the passed few weeks. Most of these scams involve telephone calls to citizens asking for personal information, credit card information, and or financial information such as bank account numbers. Many scams however, originate via the internet.
One such plea to scam information is one to be reportedly initiating from the Internal Revenue Service. Chief Olinger would like to remind everyone that the Internal Revenue Service and other governmental agencies will never request personal and or financial information by telephone but rather will utilize only written correspondence. Oftentimes people can be mislead by callers who represent themselves as being an employee of a government agency by providing a title and what may appear as a reasonable, legitimate request; but caution should be utilized providing any information by telephone.
Another scam that has recently been reported locally is the receipt of a telephone call from someone who is representing themselves as a friend or a loved one who is in need of money for such things as car repairs, medical assistance, or even bond money to be released from jail. Chief Olinger asks that you please take time to gather your thoughts and verify information prior to wiring money or providing financial information by telephone. If in doubt, contact the law enforcement agency of jurisdiction to aid in determining the legitimacy of the callers claims.
The final scams Chief Olinger would like to provide information on are the internet/mail scams notifying the recipient via mail or e-mail of a pre-approved loan amount or the possibility of receiving a fairly large amount of funds provided a processing fee is forwarded to the notifying party. Many times these loans or processing fees turn into multiple attempts to entice the victim to forward money, usually in the form of a Money Gram or a credit card to the notifying party.
Chief Olinger stated “I implore everyone to be aware and be cautious with your information as providing information can result in serious ramifications to your finances and credit history”.
