The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office received a report on Monday evening of a telephone scam hitting the area. The victim reported receiving a phone call from a person claiming to be with Publisher’s Clearing House. They were then informed they’d won $1.5 million dollars in the sweepstakes, however, in order to receive the prize the individual would need to send money through Western Union. The scam, was unfortunately reported after the victim had wired a substantial amount of money to a location in Texas. Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Croghan says the incident reinforces the fact that people should never send a money order to individuals or locations they do not know. Other rules of thumb to follow in order to protect yourself include knowing that if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is, and you should never disclose personal information about yourself or your finances to anyone on the phone or on the internet. A similar incident was reported by authorities in Sac County in late March where an elderly victim was scammed out of about $80,000. For more information on how to identify a scam and protect yourself click here.
