By Staff
Jason Cannon
New scams pop up all the time. So often that law enforcement officials have trouble keeping up.
After reports of increased activity in the county, Franklin County Sheriff Larry Plott is warning residents be wary of something that seems too good to be true: Free money.
Plott said several Franklin County residents have received checks in the mail for several thousands of dollars in the past few weeks. The resident is then asked to deposit the check and mail them back $2,000 for tax or rebate purposes. Once the money is mailed, the resident is supposed to get more money in the mail for their effort.
"These checks appear to be on a valid account from a reputable financial institution," Plott said.
He said the checks that have been turned into his office were from the Bank of Delaware, but the resident is instructed to mail the money to a Canadian address instead of where the bank is located.
This same scam can take on several forms. Some times, fraudulent money orders are sent en lieu of checks. However, in both cases, the recipient is asked to mail a significant portion of it back.
"There have been different people in different areas contacted with this scam," Plott said. "Senior citizens are especially targeted."
In some cases residents have been contacted by telephone in an attempt to get their personal and financial information over the phone.
"No one should give out their personal and financial information over the phone or to anyone they don't know," Plott said.
Plott asked that all scams be reported to the proper law enforcement agency for investigation and offered a few words of caution.
"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," he said. "It's an old saying but most of the time it's true."