Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame wants residents to know, first of all, that neither he nor any personnel of the sheriff’s office will ever ask anyone via telephone call or text message for sensitive personal information.
Brame spoke with WIZS on Wednesday’s TownTalk to pass along information regarding just such a scam that has been brought to his attention.
Brame said he learned about the scam upon receiving a phone call from a citizen.
The woman said the person left a voicemail for her late husband on her home phone. The caller identified himself as being a deputy on Brame’s staff, and left a number to call for what was described as an important and time-sensitive matter.
“I looked at the number, and I knew it wasn’t a local number,” Brame said. Neither was there a deputy with the name that was given in the message.
“My staff…will knock on your door and ask you to come to our office,” the sheriff said, adding that deputies will provide badge numbers, call numbers and other official information identifying them as sheriff’s officers.
He urges members of the public to be vigilant to avoid being taken in by scammers.
“Never say the word ‘yes’ to these people,” he said. Never provide personal information like dates of birth and Social Security numbers to people via email or text message.