Almost yearly, a new “scam” emerges that targets the general public. In an effort to assist our Ocean County community, the following is a breakdown of some of the current scams facing our residents. We would like to remind our residents to remain calm, but never wire or send money to strange callers or purchase gift cards and read the numbers to someone over the phone or provide credit card information by phone.
IDENTITY THEFT
If you are the victim of identity theft or fraud, please organize and keep all papers, receipts, cancelled checks, mail from companies, etc., related to this crime. There are agencies you should contact if you are the victim of identity theft or fraud; some will ask for the report number you get at the end of the police report process:
Helpful Tips
- Protect your social security number and only give it out when required by law.
- No bank, auction site or other business should send you an email asking you to enter credit card information, passwords, social security numbers or other personal information. Often these fake emails will contain links to pages that look real but are not.
- Do not give out your personal information or credit card numbers over the phone unless you initiated the call.
- Shred credit card offers and bank statements before you throw them away if you do not plan on using them.
- Do not post your entire life story or that of your children and/or grandchildren online. Posting that your grandchild cut her knee on Tuesday and lost a tooth on Wednesday provides identity thieves with far more information about you than anyone needs to know about you and they use this to their advantage!