Bath Sheriff Says Beware Of Scams!

Warm Springs, VA – The Bath County Sheriff’s Department has seen an increase recently in scam activity in Bath and the surrounding area. Bath County Sheriff Robert Plecker says his office has received lots of reports about attempts to scam people out of money.

“We’ve had some people, some businesses and we’ve actually had individuals in this county that have actually been scammed,” says Plecker. “They thought it was legit and it wasn’t.”

Sheriff Plecker says that recently he’s received reports of up to eight scams a week.

“We’re actually starting to see more of a paper check type,” says Plecker. “You’ve won this or if you cash this and send me back the paperwork amount to cover the paperwork and that’s where they’re getting these people. They’re actually sending money to cover the so called transaction part of it and that’s the last you see or hear of it. If it’s too good to be true, it’s a scam. Somebody’s scamming you.”

With the check scams, Sheriff Plecker says the checks look legitimate, but there’s no phone number or address. And scams are also being attempted by telephone. The scammers are calling random numbers so they are reaching people of all ages and are not just targeting the elderly. The Sheriff’s Department has found that these scams originate in faraway places, like the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Argentina.

“You’re not going to find them,” says Plecker. “I could tie an investigator up for years on one thing trying to track that number down. And they bounce numbers around so much. It’s the same person, ten different numbers. They just dial numbers and they get someone on the other end and say Oh by the way, you’re going to get x amount of money but we need you to do this paperwork’. That’s how it originates.”

If you receive a call and you don’t think it sounds right, if you’re at all suspicious, hang up. Then call the Sheriff’s Department to report it.

“One of the biggest things with any of these scams is, do not give out any kind of date of birth, or social security or any kind of personal information,” says Plecker. “If you get one of these scams, whether by email, phone, paper, something in hand, call our office and let us document it and then we go from there. But we are looking at each and every call. Ninety nine percent of them we can only take it so far and then it’s out of our hands.”

You can reach the Bath County Sheriff’s Department at 839-5300 or 839-2375.