A warning from police in Somerset County after two people were recently scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars.
Windber Police Chief Andy Frear says that phone scams are nothing new, but these callers are finding different ways to trick people into handing over their money.
He says the calls can range from scammers claiming a loved one has been arrested or their accounts have been hacked.
He warns that any caller asking for money or gift cards is most likely a scam and the biggest thing in common he says is that older people are the ones that most often fall victim.
“It’s hard to get it out to everybody because some of the older people, nobody’s getting it online and a lot of them aren’t reading the paper or maybe not listening to the news so it’s going to get to the family members to talk to their parents let them know or their grandparents and let them know if you get these kind of calls, by all means call the police anytime, 24 hours a day.”
Chief Frear says you can also call your bank if you believe you’ve been scammed.