Wise County is no exception. Residents are targeted by way of U.S. mail and the Internet.
Lt. Art Ferguson with the sheriff's department said they have received several complaints of scams this month. One victim lost hundreds of dollars.
One complainant received a letter claiming they had won the Shoppers Sweepstakes Lottery. The letter originated from a financial firm supposedly in Toronto, Canada.
The letter advises the recipient they have won $125,000. But in order to collect the money, the "winner" must first send money back to the company for processing fees. The winner will then receive a check for $125,000.
The checks received are worthless. They are attached to an account at Webster Bank in Waterbury, Conn. Ferguson said they contacted the bank and learned the account had been closed due to "numerous worthless checks being forged on the account."
"If you didn't enter any contest or sign up for anything it isn't real," Ferguson said. "Don't fall for it."
He said some of the newer scams might sound more believable because the amount of winnings is in the thousands as opposed to the millions.
"When somebody finds out they won $25,000 they are more likely to get their hopes up," Ferguson said.
Also, as people grow more desperate in this economy, they can also grow more susceptible to scams.
"You're only going to win the gold star by your name as a victim," Ferguson said.
Another scam to look out for is some of the work from home jobs being advertised online.
"We've already had one person fall victim to this type of scam," Ferguson said.
The woman applied for an online job.
"The company sent her a money order and told her to deposit it into her account," Ferguson said.
From there the woman was instructed to purchase certain items using funds from the money order. She was then instructed to mail the items to a certain address.
But she wound up losing her own money because the money orders proved to be invalid.
"She lost close to $800."
In another case, a woman from Boyd reported that she had recently started working for a sunglasses business from home via the Internet. She worked for the company online for a while, but every check the company sent her was no good.
"If it sounds too good to be true, it isn't (true)," Ferguson said.
Other scams to be aware of involve online auctions, foreclosure rescues and credit repair. Most of these scams target people who are in no position to lose more money.
