Police agencies across the nation are seeing an explosion of telephone and internet scams. Local and state law officials in Tallahassee are fighting back with an effort called "Don't Fall for the Call."
Here is a recording of an actual phone message sent to a Tallahassee resident recently:
"Leon County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Bernard Wallace speaking. I'm calling to make contact with a Mr. John Shrock. Mr. Shrock, please give me a contact back at my office number: 850-966-7200."
The "deputy" was actually a scammer. He demanded that the victim give immediate payment to prevent being arrested. Sheriff Walt McNeil says that never happens in real life.
"We will never, EVER call you and ask you to make a payment immediately. That should be a clue to any citizens out there that that is not from a law enforcement agency. Perhaps not even from some institutions in town."
Institutions such as banks or credit unions. They also don't call or text demanding immediately payment or asking for secured personal information. Officers say the big problem is that so many scam victims are too embarrassed to report the crime, so the scammers keep scamming.
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