Authorities offer red flag tips for avoiding scammers

Authorities are warning of common signs that you might be the target of scammers.

According to the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, if you get an unexpected email, text, call or social media message asking for money or information, it could be a scam. They say that scammers can fake caller ID and e-mail addresses, making it appear that a request is coming from a legitimate government official, company or even friends or family.

Scammers will frequently pressure you to act quickly to respond. They will use threats or pretend there is an emergency to rush you into making a quick decision. Scammers also specialize in making you feel heightened emotions like fear, sympathy or even excitement to pressure you into actions and to influence your decisions.

And scammers will try to get you to use unconventional payments methods to take your money with little chance of getting it back. Those can include paying them through cryptocurrency, wire transfers, payment apps, gift cards or prepaid debit cards. No legitimate government office, law enforcement agency or company will demand immediate payment through any of those means.

If you receive such a phone call, text message or email and feel pressured to pay someone or to give up your personal information, you should break contact and reach out to local authorities directly at a trusted number.