The Cass County Sheriff’s Department is warning the public of a reported phone scam in the area.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reported in a post on their Facebook page, that a senior aged couple from Cass County were scammed out of $9,500 dollars over the weekend, after they received a phone call from someone posing as their grandchild stating that they had been arrested and were now being held in Jail.
Cass County Sheriff Devron Ohrn told WLDS news this morning that previous calls reported to his department were from scammers saying things like, that a family member had been in an auto accident. While another posed as an attorney for a grandchild who had supposedly been arrested, and the victims only learned it was a scam when they went to the courthouse intending to locate the attorney and pay the requested fees in person. Ohrn said this is the first time his department is aware that someone in the area lost money due to one of these scam calls.
Sherrif Ohrn is warning the public that these criminals are sharp and play on peoples emotions. Ohrn says that if you suspect a phone call for any reason, to hang up, and call the Cass County Sheriff’s Office at 217-452-7718, or your local police or or county sheriff’s department if not in Cass County, and they will help you through the situation, prior to giving out any information or money.
Ohrn said in the announcement on Facebook yesterday that “we can talk all day about the many different type of scams, but the easiest way to avoid being scammed is to never give out bank information on the phone, and never send money to someone that has made a phone call to you attempting to get money for an unsolicited event.”
Again if you receive a call asking for money or personal information, hang up and contact your local authorities. It is also a good idea if someone calls posing as someone from a financial institution such as your bank or credit card accounts, to hang up and contact that financial institution directly.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/casssheriff/posts/