The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office has been receiving an increasing number of calls from residents who are reporting phone scams. It appears that people are calling residents and telling them that they have missed jury duty and that there is a warrant out for their arrest. The callers have used the name of actual sheriff’s office lieutenants. The number that they are calling from has a voicemail that states it is the sheriff’s office, but that no one is available to take your call.

The sheriff would like to remind everyone that the sheriff’s office will never call anyone looking for money. A safe general rule for everyone to follow is to never give personal, or financial information over the phone to anyone that you did not call yourself. The most common scams are that the IRS, the sheriff’s office or another government entity need money from a pre-paid card or you will be arrested.

Another common scam is someone calling and telling you that a loved one is in a jail somewhere, and they need money to get out. Mexico seems to be the most popular.  Another common scam is they pose as a computer company that has detected a virus on your computer and needs you to log on to your computer so that they can fix it.  They then load a virus onto your computer locking you out of it, essentially holding your computer hostage, or they steal your personal information for identity theft purposes.

If you receive any phone call that you might suspect is suspicious, hang-up and call your local law enforcement.

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