Scams an ongoing issue for law enforcement

MASON CITY — Scams are an ongoing issue that law enforcement at all levels have to deal with. The latest scam as recently reported by the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office deals with callers claiming to be an employee of their office and saying the person has unpaid fines, outstanding arrest warrants, or a need to appear in court to testify.

Mason City police chief Jeff Brinkley says another type of scam that will surface in the near future will be people calling saying they are from the Internal Revenue Service.  “I’m certain we’ll have people come to the police department and file reports whose taxes have already been claimed because someone fraudulently filed a return with their personal information. So yeah, it’s super important that you keep that to yourself. Remember that the IRS will never call you, they will always send you a letter. Know that’s one way you can sniff that one out for sure.”

Brinkley says places like your bank or insurance company should not have be asking you to provide your personal information.  “I would say almost always, if they need to ask your information, then they’re probably a scammer. If your bank calls you, if your insurance company calls you, they’re going to know your name, your address, your policy number, your birthday, all those things that normally need to be verified. So when you call them, those are appropriate questions that you probably have to answer along with your security questions that you’ve set up previously, but when they call you and ask for the information, that right away should be a red flag that this is not the institution that they say are calling.”

Brinkley says if you receive a phone call that seems to be a scam, contact your local law enforcement agency immediately. 

Hear more comments from Brinkley about scams via the audio player below