Dodge County Sheriff Says Best Way To Avoid Scam Calls: Hang Up

(Juneau) The Dodge County Sheriff is signaling caution as scammers continue to prey on area residents.

“So, I understand you’re getting a lot of people calling you about friendly things asking you for money,” said Sheriff Dale Schmidt. “My recommendation to you is to hang up the phone. The vast majority of all of those phone calls are going to be scams of some sort, just hang up the phone. I get them all the time too, and they’re not as friendly as you might think.”

“They’re trying to come after you because you are a nice person. I’m telling you, I hear it all the time, people getting scammed out of money…none of these are legitimate. No legitimate company is going to call you on the phone and ask you for money.”

That was advice given to a caller’s mother by Sheriff Schmidt during a recent Community Comment.

Nearly every year, thousands of people fall victim to scams where fraudsters pose as family members, relatives, or companies asking for money. Schmidt reiterates the best way to avoid falling victim to these types of calls.

“Hang up the phone,” says Schmidt. “Don’t talk to them. It’s just not worth your time and it’s going to be very expensive for you if you talk to them. Just hang up the phone.”

Law enforcement also encourages the public to trust their instincts when they think a phone call is a scam.

Meanwhile, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office reported Tuesday that they have received two separate fraud complaints involving banks and bitcoin ATM’s.

The first complainant said they were upgrading their digital banking on the computer and got a pop up from “Microsoft” stating that their banking was compromised. The pop up said the individual needed to empty their accounts for safety.

The second complainant reported that they received a phone call from Forte Bank Fraud Division, where the person does do their banking. The scammer was trying to get the individual to withdraw large amounts of money and deposit it into a bitcoin ATM.

Officials say this is a new scam that is circulating which they have not seen much of. They ask the public to be aware.