GPD warns of scams

Wilson urges any resident who believes they may have been the subject of a scam or gets a call to reach out to local law enforcement officials. 

Odds are you've seen the picture of the rental place on Facebook and questioned if it was legit.

Or, you've heard from a family member you didn't know existed, asking for money.

Greencastle Assistant Police Chief Ed Wilson said those scams and others are making a push back in Greencastle and he wants residents to be on alert. 

"If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. We run into a lot of scams that take place on social media, especially with elderly folks. We see people contacting the public as members of the police department, saying you have a warrant and you can pay money over the phone. I can assure you the police department is not going to call you if you have a warrant and tell you that you can pay us to get out of it," Wilson told The Putnam County Post. 

Wilson urges any resident who believes they may have been the subject of a scam or gets a call to reach out to local law enforcement officials. 

"Odds are we have heard of the scam and we can help answer questions you may have. We can tell you if it is legit or not. We have a lot of elderly folks that bring in their mail that they get at the post office and they get a lot of scam stuff there. They will receive a check that says send a portion back and keep a portion for yourself and it is a fraudulent check. They can bring those checks to us and have us look at them to determine if they are false. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. If you've never been to Jamaica, you probably haven't won the Jamaican lottery. If you didn't know you had that long lost uncle who left you millions of dollars, you probably didn't. It happens to all of us. It's amazing how many of us on the police department get those calls on our department phones. Don't fall for it," Wilson said. 

Wilson said residents should also do their homework when it comes to work from home ads on Facebook and elsewhere. 

"These folks prey on people. It is bad times for people, everyone is struggling with bills, to get food on the table and other things and these folks know this. Use common sense, and, again, if it seems too good to be true, contact us," Wilson said. 

The majority of the scams are from oversees and the criminals use various means that cannot be traced, including autodialers, Wilson acknowledged. 

"There are different avenues they are going down and there is no way for us to track these folks. If somebody gets taken for money, we have no way to get that money back. It's a shame. We have seen a lot of elderly people lose their life savings on these sorts of scams," Wilson said.