Wyoming County Report

Local News

January 23, 2012

Phone scams reported in area

By Mary Catherine Brooks Wyoming County Bureau Chief

Myriad phone scams are plaguing residents, including one recent attempt that involves Medicare recipients.

Roy Dunigan of North Spring was contacted Tuesday evening by a woman claiming to work for an agency affiliated with Medicare. She was offering him a new, more accurate blood pressure monitor.

She asked him to confirm his name, his mailing address, then asked for the number from his Medicare card.

“She told me it was the number directly under my name with an ‘A’ at the end of it,” Dunigan explained. “That was my Social Security number.”

Dunigan told her he wouldn’t give the number over the phone.

Then, he told her he would be verifying her questions with the medical center where he is treated. She hung up immediately.

Dunigan wanted to make certain other residents were warned about this scam.

“There is all kinds of stuff like this going on,” noted Wyoming County Sheriff Randall Aliff.

The sheriff emphasizes never, but never provide any type of personal information — Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, Medicare — over the phone.

“A legitimate agency doesn’t call you on the phone to get this information,” Aliff explained.

Aliff also emphasized it is very easy to obtain some personal information — names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. — through a computer.

Then, if the criminal can obtain enough additional information through one of numerous phone schemes, he/she can create a line of credit that can cause problems for the victim for months to come.

“It is such a hassle for people to get their credit line back,” Aliff said. “It may take months and months.”

Other scams include sending someone a large check as a prize or for some other fraudulent reason, Aliff said.

“The person is instructed to cash what may be a $3,500 check, then return $1,800 of it to cover taxes and fees,” he explained.

When that check turns out to be bad, the person who cashed that check is responsible for paying that money back to the bank, Aliff explained.

The victim is out the amount of the check as well as the $1,800 they’ve sent back for taxes, he added.

Additionally, residents are being contacted about payments on money they do not owe, he said.

In that event, Aliff recommends requesting an itemized statement before paying anything.

He also recommends those contacted about any type of fraudulent scheme to contact the state Attorney General’s office at 304-558-2021 or the Consumer Hotline at 1-800-368-8808.

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