VIDEO: Scams-This Season’s Edition

WINSTON and CHICKASAW COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Scammers are constantly coming up with ways to steal your money.

Law enforcement say they take place 365 days of the year, but certain ones play out during certain seasons.

The best advice law enforcement gives is this; if it sounds too good to be true, or too ridiculous to be true, then it usually is.

One area sheriff says he gets a call about a scammer at least once a day.

It could happen to anyone, anywhere, and at anytime.

“It’s not just Winston County, but we’re seeing it over and over again and what we’re talking about is scams, different types of phone scams, computer scams. We have a lot of residents that are losing money to these people and these people will scare them with different kinds of tactics,” says Sheriff Jason Pugh.

Pugh says they especially target the elderly and don’t give up until they get what they want.

“These people are very convincing when they call you. I mean, it’s not a real cheesy scam that’s easy to see through a lot of times. A lot of times these people have their act together. They really make it sound professional and they get money.”

Once they get that money, you’ll never see it again.

“One of the last ones that we worked on here was an individual who sent some folks some money. It went straight to Detroit and then it went to Canada within thirty minutes. I mean, it was a large amount of money that was gone, so I mean once it’s gone, it’s gone,” says Chickasaw County Sheriff James Meyers.

There’s certain red flags to watch out for to make sure you don’t fall victim.

Usually people get cheated because they think they’re getting a good deal, or about to go to jail because they owe old fines.

“Most folks don’t do business over the phone. There’s a big IRS scam going on about income taxes, so yeah, IRS doesn’t do business that way, and neither do old fines. I mean, you’ll be contacted personally, or through the mail and you’ll know and if you have any questions, just give our office a call, or call your local law enforcement and we will run it down for you.”

People also need to be aware of people coming around this time of year.

“A lot of stuff we see is home repair improvements, roofing, asphalt companies that come in, you know, that will pitch a good scheme and they’ll get a little money up front and then they’ll leave. People just need to be careful with who they deal with. Make sure you know them and check references,” says Meyers.