Town of Benson Police Department issued the following announcement on Nov. 21.
As we enter the holiday season, we usually see the instances of scam attempts increase. Unfortunately, this year is no different as three different scams have been brought to our attention in the past few weeks.
The first is a common phone scam. We have received a few questions from concerned customers about phone calls from “Duke Energy” or “Progress Energy” asking for an immediate payment with the threat of having their power disconnected. Scammers may even manipulate caller ID to look like they are calling from one of these agencies.
As always, if you are concerned about the status of your account, please contact Benson Town Hall at (919) 894-3553 and speak with a member of our Utilities staff.
The second scam involves text messaging links to purchase t-shirts. We have received reports of a few people receiving text messages claiming the Benson Fire Department is selling $10 t-shirts with a link to purchase.
This is a scam and they are simply trying to get your credit card info. If the BFD, BPD, or any other Town group sells t-shirts, we will announce the sale officially and will never text your phone. Delete these texts should you get one.
The third scam can be found on Facebook. We have recently banned several spam accounts from our page for trying to sell t-shirts, tickets, and other fake items in the comments of a post.
Scammers target popular posts, then go through and tag several commenters in their scam post for whatever item they are “selling.” Again, this is a scam to get your credit card info. We are constantly watching for this type of thing, but if you see one of these posts on the TOB Facebook page (or any social media page) ignore or report it.
Original source can be found here.
