ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public about yet another phone fraud.
Last week, the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook that numerous homeowners had reported receiving phone calls from a supposed deputy, some of whom claimed to be the chief deputy.
“Beware, we are not calling any of our citizens to demand payments or inform them that they have warrants,” the post states, adding that scam callers should not be given any personal information over the phone.
The RCSO issues scam warnings practically every month.
In October, the sheriff’s office posted a graphic demonstrating how to identify fraudulent social media posts.
Many of these are posted in community yard sale groups and allude to a reported missing child, discovered pet, or elderly person. Others are for residential rentals. In many circumstances, the identical photo will be shared twice.
A review of the profiles that make such posts will frequently reveal that they are scams, as they have few if any “friends” and are only a few months old.
RO managing editor William R. Toler discussed these types of scams in a 2023 editorial.
In September, the sheriff’s office revealed that numerous residents were duped into renting a residence through Facebook Marketplace.
“Please do not fall victim to this, the scammers are posting photos of a house (often a house with no resemblances to a home in Richmond County or even N.C.), for rent or lease,” according to the letter from the RCSO. “They use a local address the house is ‘supposedly’ located at and provide a phone number to contact.”
According to the letter, victims were urged to pay a $60 processing fee and a $700 deposit via pre-paid cards.
“No real lease or rental company will request that you acquire a pre-paid card and call them with the card information. This is a clear clue that it is a fraud.
The sheriff’s office has received reports of fraudsters threatening their potential victims with jail time for missing jury duty if they did not pay a fine.
However, the sheriff’s office is not the only local agency that has issued fraud alerts.
In late October, the Cole Auditorium announced that at least two fraudulent websites were attempting to sell or resell tickets to the venue’s performances. There were also bogus event pages on Facebook.
Potential customers can visit the Cole’s official website and Facebook page for accurate ticket information.
Another social media scam involves would-be scammers building fictitious profiles of musicians. However, it is not limited to high-profile individuals.
Several months ago, someone made a bogus account for local singer/songwriter Jonathan Robinson and tried to sell T-shirts by posting links in comments.
Other comment frauds include bogus livestreaming links put beneath posts from both Rockingham Dragway and Rockingham Speedway.
Visit Richmond County has warned of scammers attempting to take advantage of vendors at Rockingham’s Christmas on the Square twice since August, most recently on November 19.
“Please be aware of scammers- we DO NOT accept online payments and will not request payment from you via PayPal or any other online payment system,” states the message, which then informs potential vendors about the application procedure.
Possible scams can be reported to the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office online or by calling 1-800-5-NO-SCAM.