Beltrami County Sheriff Ernie Beitel is encouraging the community to take the proper steps needed to protect themselves and their assets from scammers.
“In the cyber society we live in today, your information is out there in one fashion, form or limitation. Scammers troll for this information and often times you may innocently share just enough information to give them enough to start working on you. A social media post or sharing can leave you very vulnerable so be wary of what you share or post,” said Beitel in a release.
Beitel explained a recent incident of a persistent scammer that convinced a resident that the caller was a federal agent.
“The scammer had already obtained limited information on the citizen and through some tactful conversation learned or confirmed even more. The catch for our citizen was the ability to pay for “their warrant” with the purchase of gifts cards and transferring money.”
According to the release, this particular resident then received a call with a spoofed caller ID that said it was from the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office.
“Spoofing” is the manipulation of caller ID to display a fabricated number to falsely represent where the call is coming from.
The FBI has some resources available to help identify spoofing, phishing, vishing, smishing and pharming.
https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety
https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/spoofing-and-phishing
