Both the Chelsea Police Department and the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office are reminding folks that there are a lot of phone and Internet scams taking place.
Chelsea Police Chief Ed Toth recently told the Chelsea City Council that if you get a phone call in the middle of the night from a “grandchild” or someone who says that they are in Canada and have been arrested for poaching, and ask you to wire money through Western Union and not to tell anyone, chances are it’s probably a hoax.
Toth said you can check the FBI Website, or sites such as www.fakechecks.org or www.fraud.org for more information.
In addition, he said that scammers are now using EBay and Craig’s List, and even targeting Avon products, too. Toth said you might receive a check for $2,000 for a $300 item and the sender says he wrote the check for the wrong amount and asks you to send a check to them for the difference. When the original check bounces, you’re stuck and out the money.
Monday morning, the Sheriff’s Office reminded those on Medicare that there are people preying on them as well.
Recently, an elderly Dexter Township resident received a call from an unknown male, described as having an Indian accent, the police advisory states.
The male identified himself as being with Medicare and needed to verify some banking information.
When the township man refused to provide the information, he was told that he only needed to confirm a bank account number, and the caller provided him with three bank account numbers.
The alert resident refused to provide the information and the caller told him that all of his Medicare benefits would be terminated first thing in the morning.
The resident wasn’t fooled and just hung up, then called police.
Police are reminding folks not to provide personal information including address, date of birth, social security number, or banking information over the phone.
