A new phone scam has been reported in Monongalia County.
It involves the caller claiming to be from Comcast and offers the potential victim a lower rate on service if they send a check made out to “CABLE TV” for $249 to an address in New York, the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office warned.
Chief Deputy Al Kisner said there has been only one report of this particular scam so far and the reporter did not fall victim to it. However, when a new scam appears it’s often followed by other reports — scammers use computers to dial hundreds of numbers a minute and only have to talk to those who answer — so the department wanted to get the word out.
The person who reported the call was tipped off because the check wasn’t being made out to Comcast, despite the claim the caller was from the company, Kisner said.
Anyone who receives a call like this, should not give out any personal information and not send a check, the department said.
This week, the West Virginia Attorney General’s Consumer Protective Division also warned about several scams involving a Social Security scam, sweepstakes scam, and scams involving call spoofing.
People should not give personal information over the phone, the AG’s office said. When in doubt, of a call’s legitimacy, call a company’s advertised phone number to determine if the call was from a legitimate source.
All suspicious calls should be reported to local law enforcement’s non-emergency number and not 911.
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