Published Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Authorities report new telephone scam

By Elizabeth Richardson

The Times-Herald

A Coweta County resident has alerted the sheriff's office to a new telephone scam targeting area residents.

According to the tip received by Capt. Tony Grant, a resident received an unsolicited call on her home phone that seemed suspiciously like an identity theft attempt.

The caller identified himself as a representative of Verizon Wireless and offered the resident a free, new Verizon cell phone for a reasonable monthly rate. The resident happened to be a Verizon cell phone customer. The caller stated that he needed to confirm some information -- like her name and address -- to ship the phone. He then asked the resident for her Social Security number, according to Grant.

The woman asked the caller why he needed her Social, to which he replied it was simply to confirm they had the right individual. When she again refused, she was given to a "supervisor" named Sam who again tried to persuade her to give them her ID number.

The resident requested the caller's company name and a phone number where they could be reached. They said they worked for "Digital Millenium Services" based out of Jerico, N.Y. After some "verbal dancing," according to the complainant, he gave her a phone number.

When the caller once again requested the resident's Social, she terminated the call and immediately contacted Verizon Wireless.

According to Grant, Verizon has stated that they will not make sales calls or ask for a Social Security number.

"Do not give out personal information -- such as date of birth, driver's license number, address and Social Security number -- during any call," said Grant. "Make it a commonplace practice not to give that information out over the phone."

Instead, go in person to the business whenever possible to verify that the caller indeed represents the business they say they do, said Grant.

"Scam persons have this down to an art," said Grant. Many times, the victim won't know they've been scammed until they're notified by their bank.