Newberry warns of increased holiday scam calls

Newberry, SC (WOLO) — Labor Day weekend is here and the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office says along with it appear to come Scammers and spammers. According to authorities, criminals take advantage of the fact that more people are home increasing their odds of reaching a potential victim.

Authorities say Scam artist have been calling people pretending to be from a utility company or Government agency. Many times threatening to cut utilities off of even claiming you’ll be turned over to a collection agency if money is not given to them.

Newberry Deputies are reminding people not to fall for this age old trick. Utility companies, and Government agencies will never ask for your credit card numbers, bank routing information or for payment in gift cards.If you dio get a call and the person asks for you to purchase an ITunes, Green Dot or Amazon gift cards as a form of payment, hang up the phone and call police.

Here are some things to keep in mind :

• Do not give personal information out over the phone.
• Call the Utility company or Government Agency directly to confirm concerns
• Never make a payment using a prepaid gift card of any kind
• Never give out bank information