Several scams have already been reported related to Hurricane Sandy.
Secretary of State Connie Lawson noted that telephone salespeople, advertisements and internet postings that promote investment tools or bonds to help storm victims should be a red flag for investors.
1st Source Bank officials hope the most recent scam that was reported over a two-day period is just an isolated incident.
A representative from the marketing department of 1st Source Bank told WKVI that the calls received by some customers that their debit card showed unusual activity were just incidents that stemmed from the major scam that was reported earlier this summer.
Another scam has hit consumers in the area.
A scam artist is calling electric utility consumers, like those who utilize Kankakee Valley REMC’s services, claiming that their utility bill could be paid under a federal government program – but no such program exists.
These solicitations have been made door to door, online, and by phone. Members are being asked for personal information and then given a fake bank account number to use for making a payment on their utility bill.
If you receive a phone call from someone representing themselves as a Kankakee Valley REMC member informing you that you can get help paying your electric bill, hang up! Do not give out any personal information. REMC will not call you asking for your account number or password.
A credit scam has been reported to NIPSCO officials.
NIPSCO customers have been receiving phone calls where a scammer asks the customer to provide personal information and says that after all that information is submitted, the customer will receive energy credits from the government. The scam artist will ask for your Social Security number and then give you a fraudulent bank routing number to pay utility companies.
NIPSCO reminds you to never give out personal information to unconfirmed sources. NIPSCO only asks for a Social Security number when a customer is applying for new service.
Utility companies are working with law enforcement to bring an end to the scam.
1st Source Source Bank wants to remind customers that their bank will never call or send an e-mail asking for a client’s account number, password, or PIN – this after a number of fraudulent telephone calls were made on Sunday throughout Michiana instructing people to enter their full MasterCard number and PIN.
It appears a robotic calling system was used throughout the 574 area code which randomly selected telephone numbers to call, informing the customer that their 1st Source MasterCard was deactivated. The system then instructed the customer to enter their information for reactivation. While these scams typically focus on larger banks, the fraudsters have moved to regional and community bank clients in the hopes of tricking unsuspecting people into giving up their card information.
The North Judson Police Department recently investigated another scam going around the area.
Police say a resident on Lincoln Avenue received what appeared to be a legitimate check in the mail for around $3,800 from a nationally-known insurance company. The person was asked to deposit the check and wire $1,900 back to the company to receive the remainder of the money. This is a scam. If you deposit the check and wire the money, the check will bounce and your money will already be claimed by the scammer.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department has received several complaints about a scam.
In this scam, the caller tells you that you’ve won $2.5 million in the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. The caller then tells you to go to a local store and buy a Money Pack Green Scratch card and put $225 on it and send it to them in order to collect your prize.
Knox City Police Chief, Clint Norem, warns us of a scam that is going around the City.
A caller claiming to be from Texas called a Knox resident to say that his granddaughter was arrested in Texas after she was involved in an accident and she needs bail money to get out of jail. A woman got on the phone and using the name of his grandchild, asked for a money order for bail money. The woman really wasn’t his grandchild. It was a scam.
