The phone rings. On the other end is a caller unknown to the person answering the phone. The caller has good news — the lucky person who answered the phone is the winner of sweepstakes money. There’s only one small catch: the winner must pay taxes on the windfall before it can be released.

It’s a scam.

The phone rings. On the other end is a caller known to person answering the phone. It’s a distraught grandchild saying he’s gotten in trouble and needs to be bailed out of jail. The money must be provided immediately and the only way to do it is to buy prepaid cards and provide the jailers the numbers.

It’s a scam.

The phone rings. On the other end is a caller somewhat known to the person answering the phone because the caller says he’s with the IRS. The person answering the phone owes money on back taxes and in order to avoid arrest, must pay those back taxes immediately.

It’s a scam.
The phone rings. On the other end is a caller also somewhat known to the person answering the phone because the caller says he’s with the U.S. government and informs the answerer he is the recipient of a federal grant. The caller says in order to receive grant money, he must give up a variety of information including bank account number, Social Security number, birthdate and more.

It’s a scam.

There are so many scams occurring, it’s often hard to keep track of them all. It’s often hard to tell if one is really being scammed, because the person making the phone call seems legitimate.

Every day, there are people being taken advantage of in this manner. It’s happened in Beaufort County — people paying thousands of dollars to “bail out a grandchild,” when that grandchild is safe at home or school or getting roped into paying out thousands of dollars to get a larger sweepstakes win.

There are ways to avoid being scammed, but the primary rule is to never give out personal information to someone who calls unsolicited. Understand that no government agency is going to ask for personal information or demand bail or back taxes be paid immediately. Instead, hang up the phone, contact the agency through its listed numbers and inquire as to the phone call. Or, hang up the phone, contact a local law enforcement agency and ask whether the phone call sounds like a scam.

Unfortunately, the only thing that’s going to stop people from being scammed is being wary of anyone who calls or emails asking for money and personal information.

Scams are not going away. But the way to make scammers go away is to beat them at their game.