Laurel County, KY - Sheriff John Root is reporting that Sgt. Josh Gaylor is investigating several different phone scams that are circulating in the Laurel County area.
These are a few of the most frequent ones:
The caller is posing as a grandchild or other family member needing money sent out-of-state reporting that it is needed as bail money or for some other family emergency.
The caller is posing as the IRS attempting to collect money they say is owed to the IRS and they threaten legal action if it is not sent.
The caller advises they are sending a check for items or services they can provide requesting a partial amount of money be sent back to the caller.
The caller advises that a huge prize is being awarded and that a processing fee must be sent back to claim the prize.
In most of these phone scams, the caller requests money be sent by a cashiers check, a green dot card, money gram, a check or the victims bank routing numbers.
Citizens need to be alerted that in all these instances, all have been determined to be a scams. Please do not fall prey to this attempt to steal money from unsuspecting people.
Generally if citizens have caller I.D.on their phone, and do not recognize the caller’s number, it is recommended not to answer, and screen phone calls.
Scammers can even program familiar phone numbers into their calls. Common sense applies here.
As always, we recommend that citizens never give out personal identifying information, and never send money, checks, or other means of cash.
