(Undated) -- Two central Iowa sheriff's office are reporting a new round of phone scams. The Dallas County and the Story County Sheriff's Offices say the callers claim to be with the sheriff's office, and they're trying to extort money over the phone. Both sheriff's offices are reminding residents if you get such a call, hang up.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Office posted this note on social media:
If someone is calling claiming they are one or us, and asking for money, just hang up! We don't do that and neither does any other law enforcement agency. If you have any questions feel free to call us at 515-993-4567.
Side note-anyone calls you and asks for a gift card or some other 3rd party payment for something-you should be thinking twice!
Side note #2-If someone is calling saying that your relative is in jail and you just need to venmo/paypal (or whatever) some money to get them out...don't do it! Call the person who is "allegedly" in jail first!
The Story County Sheriff’s Office posted these reminders and tips provided by the Federal Communication Commission:
• Don't answer calls from unknown numbers. If you answer such a call, hang up immediately.
• If you answer the phone and the caller - or a recording - asks you to hit a button to stop getting the calls, you should just hang up. Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.
• Do not respond to any questions, especially those that can be answered with "Yes" or "No."
• Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother's maiden names, passwords or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious.
• If you get an inquiry from someone who says they represent a company or a government agency, hang up and call the phone number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on the company's or government agency's website to verify the authenticity of the request. You will usually get a written statement in the mail before you get a phone call from a legitimate source, particularly if the caller is asking for a payment.
• Use caution if you are being pressured for information immediately.
• If you have a voice mail account with your phone service, be sure to set a password for it. Some voicemail services are preset to allow access if you call in from your own phone number. A hacker could spoof your home phone number and gain access to your voice mail if you do not set a password.
• Talk to your phone company about call blocking tools and check into apps that you can download to your mobile device. The FCC allows phone companies to block robocalls by default based on reasonable analytics. More information about robocall blocking is available at fcc.gov/robocalls.