Hunterdon County Sheriff Fred W. Brown has issued a public service announcement reminding residents that “no government agency will ever contact a resident by phone, or via the internet, for the purposes of soliciting or collecting money,” and that residents should hang up on those scam calls.
Sheriff Brown was recently contacted by a distraught resident who stated that he received a call from Social Security, explaining that his information had been used in a crime outside of the state and in order to safeguard his financial assets, funds had to be transferred to an electronic debit card.
“This was a fraudulent, criminal, scam call,” Brown said.
Recent scams have involved Verizon cell phone accounts, linking unexpected charges to the account or charges for calls out of the country, and IRS tax scams, involving robo-calls and phishing attempts, around tax season. Sheriff Brown stated, “The perpetrators play on the fears of those they call, threatening arrest, loss of property and funds.
Residents are reminded to never give out any personal identifiers online, or over the phone, such as your social security number, credit card or bank information, Brown said.
If you receive any suspicious calls requesting personal or financial information immediately hang up and notify your local law enforcement agency, Brown said.
For more information about social security scam calls, click here.
