ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public of yet another phone scam.
The sheriff’s office posted to Facebook last week that several residents had reported receiving phone calls from a purported deputy — and some claiming to be the chief deputy.
“Beware, we are not calling any of our citizens making demands for payments or telling you that you have warrants,” the post reads, adding to not provide any information over the phone to scam callers.
The RCSO warns about scams almost monthly.
In October, the sheriff’s office shared a graphic on how to spot fake social media posts.
Many of these are posted in community yard sale groups and are in reference to a purported missing child, found pet or elderly person. Others are for home rentals. In many cases, the same photo will be posted twice.
A check of the profiles that make such posts will often indicate that the posts are scams, as they have few if any “friends” and will be only a few months old.
RO managing editor William R. Toler wrote about these types of scams in a 2023 column.
Click here to read the column.
In September, the sheriff’s office reported that several residents were scammed by attempting to rent a home through Facebook Marketplace.
“Please do not fall victim to this, the scammers are posting photos of a house (often a house with no resemblances to a home in Richmond County or even N.C.), for rent or lease,” reads the letter from the RCSO. “They use a local address the house is ‘supposedly’ located at and provide a phone number to contact.”
According to the letter, victims were asked to pay a $60 processing fee and $700 deposit using pre-paid cards.
“No legitimate lease or rental company will ask you to purchase a pre-paid card and call them with the card number. This a true sign it is a scam.”
The sheriff’s office also took reports of scammers telling their would-be victims that they would go to jail for missing jury duty if they didn’t pay a fine.
But the sheriff’s office hasn’t issued the only local scam alerts.
The Cole Auditorium in late October posted that there were at least two fake websites trying to sell or resell tickets to events at the venue. There were also fake event pages created on Facebook.
Potential patrons are encouraged to visit the Cole’s official website and Facebook page for legitimate ticket information.
Yet another social media scam involves would-be scammers creating fake profiles of musicians. But it’s not just those who are high-profile.
Someone created a fake account several months ago for local singer/songwriter Jonathan Robinson, attempting to sell T-shirts by posting links in comments.
Other comment scams include fake livestreaming links, which have been left under posts by both Rockingham Dragway and Rockingham Speedway.
Twice since August, including on Nov. 19, Visit Richmond County warned of scammers attempting to make money off of vendors for Rockingham’s Christmas on the Square.
“Please be aware of scammers- we DO NOT accept online payments and will not request a payment from you via PayPal or any other online payment system,” reads the post, which goes on to tell potential vendors the application process.
Possible scams can be reported to the N.C. Attorney General’s office online or by calling 1-800-5-NO-SCAM.
