Fraud / Scam Alerts

DO YOU KNOW WHERE TO REPORT PHONE/INTERNET SCAMS?
When you receive phone calls or emails suspected to be scam or fraud related, the Federal Trade Commission has created a website www.ReportFraud.ftc.gov  to make it easy to report fraud, scams, and bad business practices for further investigation.

Scroll down for information on specific scams.

FRAUDULENT UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CLAIM

The Commonwealth of KY and US Government maintain all the records associated with these claims.
 
If you are a victim, it is very important that you report the identity theft fraud to ALL of the following entities, but especially the first two:
*Your Employer*

The Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance
(https://secure.kentucky.gov/FormServices/UI/Fraud)

National Center for Disaster Fraud
(https://www.justice.gov/.../ncdf-disaster-complaint-form)

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 
(https://www.identitytheft.gov)

Local Police Department

(to obtain a copy of a report to provide to creditors and credit agencies)
 
If you are a resident of Oldham County, please call Oldham County Dispatch, 222-0111,

to request that an officer return your call to take your report of identity theft.

ONE RING SCAM
If you receive a call from the area code (222) or (232) and they ring once then hang up, DO NOT RETURN THE PHONE CALL!

The FCC has sent out a warning about the One Ring Scam.

The idea is that you will see that someone tried to call you and then call the number back to see who it was.
When you do that, it's basically like calling a (900) number.

YOU CAN BE CHARGED MORE THAN $100 A MINUTE and they will try to keep you on the phone for as long as possible.

If you fall victim to this scam, call your phone company to try to have the charges removed.

If it can't be resolved that way, report the incident to the FCC.
https://reportfraud.ftc.gov

In general, if you missed a call from a number that you don't recognize, it may be best to wait for them to call you again instead of returning their call.

LG&E/ KU SCAMS
 Always be on alert for calls from people who are trying to trick you into paying them money.

People in our area have received calls from someone claiming to work for LG&E and KU.

The caller states that your account is overdue and in order to pay your bill, you'll need to call the number they give you.

LG&E/KU will send you notices in the mail if you are behind in your payments.

If you are concerned that the caller may be from LG&E/KU, hang up and call LG&E/KU customer service
at 502-589-1444 or 800-331-7370 to check on the status of your account.

​Do not call the number that they give you.
NEVER give out personal information or make a payment over the phone to someone you don't know and has called you requesting it.

IRS TAX SCAMS
The La Grange Police Department wants to warn its citizens about aggressive telephone calls being made by scammers posing as

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) representatives.​ One example is scammers direct taxpayers to IRS.gov to “verify” the phone number of the call.

In the latest version of the phone scam, criminals claim to be calling from a local IRS TAC office. Scam artists have programmed their

computers to display the TAC telephone number, which appears on the taxpayer’s Caller ID when the call is made.

If the taxpayer questions their demand for tax payment, they direct the taxpayer to IRS.gov to look up the local TAC office

telephone number to verify the phone number. The crooks hang up, wait a short time and then call back a second time,

and they are able to fake or “spoof” the Caller ID to appear to be the IRS office calling. After the taxpayer has “verified” the call number,

the fraudsters resume their demands for money, generally demanding payment on a debit card.

The IRS Will Never:
· Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a tax bill.
· Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as prepaid gift cards (example: iTunes or Google) or wire services such as Western Union or MoneyGram.
· Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, immediately HANG UP. Under no circumstances should you engage them in conversation or provide any personal information.

Following a suspicious phone call, you have the option to:
·Call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 if you think you might owe taxes. The IRS employees can help you with a payment issue.
·Report the incident by completing the following online report: http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml
·Contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov
Remember to add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint.
You can read about this and other scams at 
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scamsconsumer-alerts

UPS SCAM
We have been advised of an apparent scam targeting the LaGrange area. A resident received a phone call from someone claiming that they

were with UPS from the number (502)565-3083. He told them that they had won a cash prize and new car from the Publisher's Clearinghouse

and asked if they had received anything in the mail from them. He then asked if the resident wanted to claim, decline, or donate the prize.
If you receive a call like this, please just hang up and DO NOT give out any personal information.

SPEEDING TICKET SCAM
Please be on the lookout for this recent email scam. This individual was contacted by email stating that she owed money for a speeding ticket.
​In addition, it provided a link through which to send money. DO NOT click on the link.

If you had actually received a ticket, you would have been notified through the mail, not through your email address.

Should you receive one of these notices, please contact your local police department.

WARRANT SCAM
The LaGrange Police Department has received several scam reports where subjects are calling LaGrange residents and advising them that they have a warrant for their arrest. Scammers are using technology that can “spoof” any phone number to show up on your caller ID, including the one for our office. By using the internet and other means, the scammers can look up cell phone numbers and landline numbers, along with the owner’s name. Scammers are introducing themselves as a member of the LaGrange Police Department, such as an officer or detective, use a fake name, and provide fake report and warrant numbers. Following that they ask for your social security numbers and banking info, or state that you could take care of the warrant by going to a store and buying pre-paid visa cards so that you can give them the card number over the phone.
Scammers have also claimed to be from neighboring departments and have gone so far as to tell their potential victim that they can avoid going to jail if they meet with caller and bring $1,000.00.

THIS IS NOT THE PRACTICE OF THE LAGRANGE POLICE NOR ANY OTHER LEGITIMATE DEPARTMENT OR WARRANT SERVICE! THIS IS A SCAM.
If you receive a call of this nature, DO NOT provide ANY personal information or respond to questions asked by the caller.

If you have suffered a financial loss as a result of what you believe to be a scam, contact your local Police Department.

MYSTERY SHOPPER SCAM
​In the Market Place news paper as well as other publications there is an advertisement for mystery shoppers, you send them your name address etc. Then a few days later you get a check via FED EX. Usually the check is for $2,850.00 they tell you to deposit the check keep $350.00 and Western Union $2,500 to a name and address they give you via email. This is a scam the checks are made up on real companies but their banks will stop the check, verify they are fraudulent and you are out $2,500 dollars. They always say further instruction to follow in your correspondence with them which once you’re burned it never comes.

There are several scams that are similar. If they are asking you to send them money back! IT'S A SCAM!! We take several calls a week about citizens receiving checks, and believing that they have just one a large amount of money or merchandise. Please be cautious when getting calls from business or letters stating that you have one a prize or money.

PRIZE MONEY SCAMS
​A citizen in LaGrange was recently contacted by a sweepstakes and was told that they won a prize of $850.000 and a new silver Mercedes.

The sweepstakes asked for them to send a cash advance to cover the sells tax. Being a little suspicious she told them that she wanted to

check them out and was going to call the Better Business bureau. They gladly offered her the number of there local BBB.

She called and it appeared to be the same person answering as the sweepstakes. Please be alert and do not fall for these scams.

If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is!!

_______________ 

​The Kentucky State Police, Post 11, London has received a report of a scam that targets victims through a telephone call stating

they have won a large sum of money or a valuable prize.
This particular call, from a cell phone that is registered in the country of Jamaica, originated from the "876" area code.

It was from a person identifying himself as "Mr. Bill Johnson".
The caller advises victims to send money via Western Union to a "Mr. Phillip Samuels" in Brooklyn, NY to receive their prize.

The caller states the prize will be delivered to the victim's home after the money has been received by Mr. Samuels.
These names are believed to be alias names and no positive identification of these individuals has been made.
No loss of money has been reported at this time.

Anyone receiving a call of this type is urged to disregard it completely and no one should ever send money, to anyone,

for a prize they have supposedly won.

POLICE FOUNDATION (POSSIBLE) SCAM
There is an organization called Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation (http://www.helppolice.org/) that is an actual business.

However, they are listed as one of America's Worst Charities (http://www.tampabay.com/…/disabled-police-and-sheriffs-foun…).

They have been making calls that appear to come from a Kentucky phone number (270-883-9223) but they operate out of Reno, NV.

When one person who received their solicitation call asked how much of his donation would go to disabled officers, the solicitor hung up.

Please remember that you should not give out your personal information over the phone.

If you want to donate to an organization,

it is best if you seek them out.