(Decatur, IL) — State’s Attorney Jay Scott announced on Tuesday that local residents are being targeted with a telephone scam where the callers claim to be from a government agency, state that the intended victims have serious charges pending against them or that warrants have been issued for them, and threaten arrest by the local “cops.” The goal is to get the victims to send money in order to avoid arrest.
Numerous reports of this scam have been made to the Elder Fraud Hotline in the past few days. Residents are advised to hang up if this call is received and to ignore answering machine messages demanding a return call.
“This is similar to other scams we’ve seen, like calls claiming to be from the IRS,” Scott said, “The callers hope to convince people that they’re in trouble and they have to act quickly.”
Please report any suspected scams to the Elder Fraud Hotline at 217-615-7582. All calls are answered by State’s Attorney Jay Scott. For more information on scams, please visit the State’s Attorney’s website at www.sa-macon-il.us.