By Donald Hill

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office would like to make our communities aware of numerous scams that are currently being reported to our office. By identifying and sharing this information we hope to help keep our citizens informed and up to date on trending crimes.

The following scams have been reported in our county:

• Arrest warrant scam: Unlawful individuals contact honest citizens multiple times and claim they are going to be arrested for unpaid debts if a payment is not made.
• Online dating scams: Scammers will make fake online accounts and pretend to care about individuals and then say they need money.
• Re-shipping scams: Scammers will send packages to be inspected and then have the victim send stolen merchandise that has been illegally purchased back to them.
• Fake checks: Victims tend to be online sellers. Fake checks are sent to the victim over-paying them, and then the victim sends the extra amount back to scammer. After a couple of days the bank processes the check and it is determined the check is fake.
• Driveway scams: Scammers come to your home and offer to pave driveways or do odd jobs around your home. The price is so low you feel like you can’t pass up the deal, only to have them do a little work and never come back to finish the job.

Remember: Never give out personal information to someone you have not verified who they are. Never pay in full up front for work to be done. If you feel something is too good to be true, then it probably is. If you have any questions about a suspected scam, please call your local sheriff’s office at 828-894-3001.