DARE COUNTY, N.C. - The Dare County Sheriff's Office is warning residents of Craiglist-type ads and remote work scams.
Officials say that have recently been contacted on several possible scams that have occurred in the area. In these cases, the scammers want to send money to residents either through a cashier's check or an online type of payment.
According to officials, this is happening for Craigslist-type ads and things such as remote computer repair work, however, it could be for just about anything. Police say the scammers want residents to fill out a form and provide personal information to send the money to. They will even tell you not to give a PO Box but a physical address.
When residents place an item on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or any other sites, the scammers will try to contact them.
If they respond to them, they will most likely tell you they want to purchase your item at full price plus a fee for you to hold it. They will ask residents to fill out a form providing all of their information such as name, physical address (not PO Box), phone number, and the amount they are to receive for the item so they can send the check. They will ask them to hold the item until they've received the check and cash it. If successful in cashing the check, they will tell the resident they have changed their mind and ask them to send the money back to them minus any amount of money they promised to hold it. This is an attempt to make you feel good because you received something out of the deal.
Officials say the computer scammer will say they want to refund the money for computer work or whatever topic they may fall for and also have them fill out forms. On the form, the scammer will ask them to put in the refund amount you discussed. The refund amount will somehow be changed from, ex $600 to $6,000.
The scammer will then contact the person back and tell them there was a mistake on the form and they need to send the extra money back to them through cash or gift card.
If one catches on to the scam after providing the information on the form and doesn't send the money, then officials say they will then try and intimidate residents into sending the money to them using that information.
If you have provided any information such as bank accounts or credit card numbers, immediately contact them to stop any transactions you have not approved and follow their guidelines in changing them if needed.
As always, contact your local Police Department or Sheriff's Office (252 475 5980) if you feel you are being scammed or have been scammed.
