By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
In today's digitally connected world, scams are a constant, but a shocking uptick in phone and internet scams since 2020 has made the problem more troublesome than ever.
Ellis County Sheriff Scott Braun recently warned area residents are not immune to the increase.
"They are everywhere," Braun said, "and it seems like they're increasing again. You know, we kind of go through waves where we don't have a lot of them. But here recently, we're starting to see those and identity theft also falls within that."
He said the most effective action to stop scammers from being successful is simply not sharing personal information over the phone.
"So a couple of things to think about," Braun said. "So if you receive a phone call, and they're starting to ask you what your social security number is, they're asking you personal information."
They identify themselves as some kind of a legit service that maybe you had at one time and don't anymore, but it's not real. Any information shared should stop right there, he said.
"If they're legit, they already have that information," Braun said.
Social Security scams are a prime example of a recent scam that is unfortunately too often effective for the scammer.
Braun said many scams can be stopped by simply verifying the caller is who they say they are.
"We hear a lot about warrants, those types of things, and they start asking that personal information, 'Is this is so and so?' and 'We can help you get that warrant taken care of,'" Braun said.
But he said law enforcement is unlikely to ever make that call.
"The Ellis County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement throughout the state of Kansas will never ask you those questions," Braun said. "More than likely they won't be contacting you by phone call. So the warrant thing, put that to rest.
"If you have a question, please call the sheriff's office. We'll help you out. I can assure you, your law enforcement jurisdictional, wherever you might live, they're the same way. Reach out to them."
Residents should be cautious anytime an unsolicited caller requests personal information.
"The scam side, they're asking your DOB, social security number, they're asking your addresses," Braun said. "They're asking maybe some phone numbers, things of those nature. You should stop right there and you should say, 'You know what? I'm going to call the local law enforcement. Can I have a number so they can call you back and make sure that you're legit? I guarantee you're going to have a hang-up immediately."
With so much personal information stored on mobile devices, he warns they are another potential avenue for scammers and identity thieves to steal information.
"For those people that put a lot of stuff in their phones, credit cards, etc. remember, hackers," Braun said. "Please refrain from doing that. I know it's an inconvenience to enter that manually. Because it's so much nicer to save it.
"But they can get in your phone. They can get in your computer. And if they have access, we get those every day where people have unwarranted billings, because someone got in there and they're buying, whatever it might be.
The Sheriff's department can help victims of identify theft.
"So in the Sheriff's office, we're helping out with those identity thefts and helping those people fill out that paperwork. Because a lot of times, it's our elderly people, and it's confusing, and they want you to go online, you know, so we're trying to help them," Braun said.
"So if someone has an identity theft, please, you can come down to the Sheriff's office, and we'll help you out, get that going and get that paperwork submitted. So that way we can get that going."
While they are willing to help, Braun warns catching the perpetrator is often unlikely.
"Unfortunately and it's frustrating because now we have a victim," Braun said. "And typically, it's an elderly person who may be on a fixed income.
"There's just nothing we can do other than, hey, let's contact the bank, stop this action, lock those accounts down. The banks are really, really good about doing that for those, but it's an inconvenience for those people also."