Apr. 9—Phone scams aiming to part unsuspecting residents with their money are nothing new — they just target the Cullman area more frequently sometimes than at others.
This week, one alleged phone scam involves a call to local numbers under the guise of a well-known sweepstakes name, though law enforcement says the phony source isn't Publisher's Clearing House — and the promise of winnings in exchange for personal information is phony as well.
Fraudulent schemes invoking the marketing company have become so frequent nationwide that Publishers Clearing House has set up a fraud page at its website, advising anyone who receives a phone call purporting to represent the company to just hang up.
The company does not "make or authorize outgoing calls to consumers to sell merchandise or magazines, or to solicit sweepstakes entries," its fraud page explains. Our major winners are notified by mail or in person (at our option) and we never phone ahead to disclose that someone has won a major prize. If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House and are asked to send money, pay a fee or pre-pay taxes to enter, collect or claim a sweepstakes prize — STOP — you have not heard from the 'real' Publishers Clearing House. The call you received was most likely from a fraudulent sweepstakes scam operation."
Local law enforcement says phone scams come with a variety of fake, if appealing stories — some even playing on people's sense of community spirit as a deceptive way to gain access to their pocketbooks. One locally-based scam asks residents to contribute to the Cullman County Sheriff's Office, while yet another finds the caller posing as a law enforcement agent who demands money in exchange for clearing a completely made-up outstanding warrant.
"When I speak to local groups and talk about phone scams, what I tell them is: Number one, you'll never receive anything for free, and number two, never give any personal identifiers to anyone over the phone — your name, your date of birth, your social security number, anything like that. and number three, never send money to anyone, especially when they ask you to go put the money on any kind of prepaid card," says Sheriff Matt Gentry.
"We're never going to call you from the sheriff's office soliciting money, and we're never going to call and say we have a warrant for your arrest and that you have to pay or wire money to the sheriff's office. Anytime you get a call like that, it's a scam."