The Sheriff’s Office has learned that there is a fraudulent telephone scam being encountered by citizens in the area involving a purported large monetary or automobile “prize” or “award” from Publisher’s Cleaning House.  This same kind of scam occasionally occurs in this area from time to time.

      In this particular instance, a caller with a telephone number that shows to originate in the country of Jamaica is placing calls to local residents informing them they have won a large cash award or a large prize, such as a new automobile.  As part of the redemption process, the local resident is being directed to go to a Dollar General Store and load $299.00 on a “green dot” cash card to pay for processing or transaction fees for the award.  The caller states they will then meet with the person to deliver the prizes in exchange for the cash card.

     Area citizens should be warned that if they receive telephone calls of this nature, then it is a fraudulent scam.  If a genuine prize or award had been won, there would be no processing fees, transaction fees, or deposits, for example, required.  Citizens should be vigilant and exercise due diligence if speaking to someone by phone claiming to be from Publisher’s Clearinghouse or any other prize awards center.  No personal information should be provided, and no cash card or other type of fees should be submitted to the caller, nor any numbers from a cash card, debit card, or credit card.

     Anyone receiving a suspicious call of this nature may contact their local law enforcement agency for advice.

Baxter County Sheriff’s Office