Franklin County Sheriff's office warning residents and visitors to beware of scammers

The Franklin County Sheriff s Office Investigations Division has investigated several attempts to defraud
persons of monies in recent months. In an effort to prevent citizens from falling victim to one of the
scams we would like to brief everyone concerning some of the frequent and recent scam's attempted
on Franklin County Residents. These are summaries of scams, not all details will remain the same from
attempt to attempt. However the method and general approach's remain constant from one attempt to
another.

1. Grand Children arrested in foreign countries- A grandparent receives a frantic call from someone they
believe to be their grandchild. The supposed grandchild sounds distressed and may be calling from a
noisy location. The supposed grandchild claims to be involved in some type of trouble while traveling
in Canada or overseas, such as being arrested or in a car accident or needing emergency car repairs,
and asks the grandparent to immediately wire money to post bail or pay for medical treatment or car
repairs. The scammer typically asks for several thousand dollars, and may even call back again several
hours or days later asking for more money. He or she may claim embarrassment about the alleged
trouble and ask the grandparent to keep it a secret.

2. Fake Check Scam- there are many variations of the fake check scam, but the common thread is a
stranger proposing to send the victim a check and have the victim wire money in return. It may start
with someone offering to buy something you advertised for sale, pay you to work at home, or give you
an advance on a sweepstakes you have won. Whatever the set-up is, the bottom line is if someone you
don't know wants to pay you by check but wants you to wire money back, it's likely a scam.

3. Debt Collection Scams-In most cases, the scam starts with a call. The caller will sound official and
claim to represent some fictitious company (i.e. ''American Cash7). They will proceed to explain that
payment is owed or suggest that a previous payment did not go through and a new one needs to be
made. Threats may be made stating the victim is going to be arrested if payment is not received. These
calls often continue until the consumer pays up or takes steps to verify the caller's information.

4. Ransom ware- A computer is infected with a virus which locks the computer on startup and demands
the user pay money to a Law Enforcement Agency to unlock it. Please beware, any such urge is a scam.
Neither the FBI nor any other Law Enforcement Agency would make such a demand. DO NOT PAY any
money (some versions require $100 fine, later ones $200)

These are only a few of the common scams that have been perpetrated on Franklin County Citizens.
If you feel you are being targeted by a scammer, please do not hesitate to call on the Franklin County
Sheriff‘s Office. One call could save you thousands of dollars.



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