Nez Perce County – With the holidays upon us, the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the public to be safe and aware during this time. Scammers will contact you about your Apple, Samsung, credit or bank account/s. Please use caution and avoid giving out Personal Identifiable Information such as your social security number, bank account information, address, etc. Do not clink on links in your email or in text messages from people you do not know. Another method scammers use is to send you a link to a fake page that looks exactly like the Facebook log in page for instance. The victim will try to log in numerous times with no luck. What they have done is given a scammer access to their Facebook. This method is also used for other accounts.
When shopping online, only purchase from secure websites. You should see a lock symbol in the address bar, that lets you know the website is secure. Check your accounts often and make sure everything is right.
The Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office, nor any other law enforcement entity, will never call you and tell you that you have a warrant, then tell you to pay it via gift cards. We will never do that! There are programs out there that let people clone phone numbers. So you may get a call that shows up as being from a law enforcement agency, but the caller is a scammer and telling you to pay your warrant via gift card or bank transfer. Scammers also like to use the IRS as a ruse to get you to send them money.
If you plan on leaving the area to go on vacation or do shopping, consider investing in an RFID blocking wallet. This will prevent your credit card information being stolen by scammers. Also consider opting of prescreen offers, if you’re not interested in receiving credit and insurance offers. While these offers do not affect your credit, if your mail is stolen or lost, people can fill out the offer and ruin your credit. The Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office would like to wish you happy holidays, and please be safe.
