Sheldon, Iowa — The weather has been hot, but that hasn’t slowed down the scammers in recent days.
Sheldon Police tell KIWA there have been a number of scams attempted on unsuspecting Sheldon residents lately.
Police say most of these scammers are trying one variation or another on an old theme: either you owe the IRS, or Social Security, or your electric utility, etc, etc, etc a large sum of money that must be paid RIGHT NOW or you’ll be arrested, your Social Security Account will be frozen, utilities turned off, etc. These are all variations of the same scam. First, the IRS, nor Social Security, nor the utility companies contact you by phone making threatening demands…that’s your first red flag.
Most of the time, these scammers demand payment via gift cards. This is THE BIGGEST red flag. Legitimate companies do NOT demand payment via gift cards.
If you fall for this type of scam, once you give the scammer the gift card number your money is gone, untraceable and won’t be seen again.
Sheldon Police say be alert, be aware, DO NOT open any emails from an untrusted source, DO NOT give any personal or banking information over the phone or in email. And if you have think you’ve been the target of a potential scammer, call the Sheldon Police Department.
