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Yet another telephone solicitation scam is being perpetrated in Kosciusko County and police again warn that residents should not provide banking or credit card information over the telephone.
On Wednesday, an elderly Syracuse woman notified the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department she received a telephone call from an individual who claimed to represent an organization called Fraud Against Banking and Telemarketing.
The caller told the woman the attorney general passed a law requiring all people to contribute money to this organization so it could combat fraud and the man threatened to file criminal charges against her if she did not comply. He said he would need her bank account numbers and the required contribution would be withdrawn from her account. After the alleged threat, the woman provided her checking account number and the caller told her $299 would be withdrawn from her account and she would receive a letter in the mail about the organization and future automatic withdrawals.
After the call ended, the 75-year-old woman realized she shouldn't have given the caller any information. She then notified her bank and law enforcement about the matter.
Police said there is no law requiring contributions to any anti-fraud organization. Anyone who receives such a call should deny the caller's requests for any personal information.
For more information or to report a possible fraud case, contact the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department at 267-5667.
