The Durant Police Department has been receiving calls from residents on a variety of phone scams.
The most prevalent is a caller who states they are from the SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. The caller will tell the resident they are in trouble of some sort with the Social Security Administration and they will attempt to gain information and try to scam the resident, who is being told they will be under arrest if they don’t cooperate.
A second scam is a caller who advises they are with AMAZON PRIME and are attempting to tell the resident they have signed up for AMAZON PRIME when the caller hasn’t. They will attempt to reimburse the resident for what they supposedly paid and money will go into their bank account, which far exceeds what they were told. These are fraudulent transactions and if you attempt to send back the money you will be out your savings.
There are many more scammers that come up with creative ways to attempt to get people to part with money. The best practice is not to give out any information and just hang up the phone. They will spoof phone numbers, meaning you may think you’re getting a call from Durant City Hall or the Durant Police Department, or any local number that you recognize, and when you answer it is a scammer trying to get you to buy something or get you to go purchase gift cards and send back to them.
If you receive these calls, make sure to let others know. Report to your local law enforcement, contact your financial institution, and most importantly let your family know. The scammers are depending on you keeping quiet about it so they can scam others in the community.
Durant PD attempts to get the word out on social media when there are instances of this. Make sure to educate older family members on scammers calling them and attempting to get them to part with either their money, or their personal information so they can scam them in other ways. JUST HANG UP and don’t provide any personal information over the phone.