(Photo provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice).
Cortland County Sheriff Mark Helms recently issued a warning of scammers posing as members of his department.
According to a release, a resident called the county sheriff’s office on Tuesday (June 11) and noted that they received a scam phone call.
The release noted that the resident was contacted by an unknown phone number that turned out to have a Cortland area code. The caller, who identified as a member of the county sheriff’s office, left a voicemail for the resident to call them back.
Noted in the release, “The caller advised that if the resident did not call them back they would ‘face severe civil and criminal penalties.’”
“I would like to remind the residents of Cortland County that my office would not contact you by
phone asking for money, donations, or an offer that if you make a payment to the person on the phone it can be in lieu of civil or criminal penalties,” Helms said in the release. “Please be aware of calls like this and never provide your personal information or give payment/banking information to anyone over the phone.”
Any residents who receive a scam phone call similar to the one noted are asked to call and report it to the county sheriff’s office at 607-753-3311.
