Pay attention to signs of a scam, Sheriff's Office says

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about scammers who have been falsely claiming to be county law enforcement employees. 

These scammers might use the real names and titles of sheriff’s office personnel to appear more credible, or use fake local phone numbers to appear legitimate. 

According to the sheriff’s office, real employees will never call to ask residents for money, threaten arrest or demand personal information. The office will also never ask residents to deposit money into a bitcoin machine, use gift cards as payment or transfer money into a new account to complete transactions. 

Residents should never share financial or personal information over the phone or through email with unknown contacts, the sheriff’s office said. 

If you believe you’re the target of a scam or receive a suspicious call, hang up immediately and call the department at 512-943-1300. Residents can also call with questions about scams. 

According to the Attorney General’s Office, frequent practices by scammers include: 

• Calling potential victims over the phone, which makes it difficult to identify who’s on the other side of the call
• Requesting money or personal information
• Requesting payment prior to offering a service
• Asking for payment through wire transfer, the use of gift cards, a bitcoin machine or by moving money to a new account

Frequent scams and warning signs 

Spotting a phone scam 

Residents can protect themselves from phone scams by ignoring calls from numbers they don’t recognize, especially if they aren’t expecting a call from anyone. 

If the call is answered, scammers will pressure victims into making a decision, or will make it feel like it is an emergency situation.

Below are some common signs of a phone scam: 

• The call starts with a prerecorded message, called a “robocall”
• The caller claims to be a friend or relative in need of money, but they don’t give you any time to contact others
• The caller claims to be in law enforcement or with a federal agency
• The caller is reluctant to answer specific questions about the business or offer
• The caller requests to “confirm your personal information”
• The caller claims you have been specially selected
• The caller uses high-pressure sales tactics and mentions “limited-time” offers
• The caller request payment by means of gift card, cash, private courier, bitcoin or wire transfer
• The caller threatens action — even the threat of arrest — if you don’t comply
• Request your credit card or other payment mechanism for “shipping and handling”
• The caller claims you have a virus on your computer or requests to log in to your computer 

Debt collection scams 

Although debt scams used to be primarily over the phone, they can now come in the form of text messages. For example, many texts about residents being late on road toll fees are scams. Texts claiming to be from the postal office or UPS saying they couldn’t deliver a package and need more information are also a scam. 

Some tips to spot debt collection scams include: 

• They ask for information a real debt collector should already have, like how much you owe, your social security number, your address or birthday
• They won’t share information with you like the collectors full name, the company’s address and name, the company’s web address, email domain or company phone number
• They threaten or lie to you, like saying you will go to jail if this debt isn’t paid
• They insist payment in that moment
• They ask you to pay by untraceable methods, like gift card or bitcoin machine 

Sweepstake and lottery scams 

In this scam, “winners” are asked to send money under the pretense of winning a sweepstake or lottery. 

The scammer might say the money is for taxes, the cost of transferring funds or processing fees. No legitimate sweepstake or lottery will ask for money upfront to collect your prize. 

Residents cannot win a competition they did not enter, and it is illegal to receive the proceeds from a foreign lottery. 

Romance scams 

Living by yourself can get lonely, and finding a good person to date can seem impossible. Some people on dating apps — or who send unsolicited direct messages on social media — may be falsifying their identity or appearance — known as catfishing. These scammers pose as someone else to lure a victim into a fake relationship, with the goal of eventually asking for money based on the romantic connection. 

Some signs include: 

• The person is quick to compliment you
• The person’s profile is impressive, or seems to good to be true
• The person claims to be a celebrity or public figure
• The relationship moves quickly, but they can’t or don’t want to meet in person
• They ask for money for a personal emergency
• Their photos look like they might be edited, photoshopped or based on public pictures easily available online 

Tech support scams 

Real tech support companies won’t contact you out of the blue. Pop-ups on a computer screen can pretend to be from a reputable company and sometimes seem legitimate. Pop-ups can also falsely claim a computer has been hacked. 

Additional, fake websites can sometimes pose as legitimate tech support companies, which makes finding a tech support number online challenging. 

These pop-ups and websites are oftentimes a cover for a scam. Here’s how to spot a tech support scam: 

• The pop-up or technician will ask for control over your computer
• They say you will lose all of your data if you restart or shut down your computer
• There is a link, software or special code that needs to be downloaded or used
• If your computer warns you about the legitimacy of a website or that a website may be dangerous, listen to the message and leave the website
• Secure websites will have a lock icon next to the web address on the left hand side