The Crookston Police Department is alerting citizens to two scams that have been reported this week, one over the phone and the other via email.
During the phone scam, the caller posed as a reverend and told the victim they'd won more than $2 million. The victim was asked to wire/send $275 via Western Union to another person who lived out of state. The victim was instructed to call a phone number once the money was sent. Once the money was sent, the victim was asked a second time to send more money, and the caller asked for a credit card number.
During the email scam, the victim answered a newspaper ad in which someone was giving away Yorkshire Terrier puppies. The victim answered the ad by contacting an email address in the ad and, again, the person who emailed back posed as a reverend. He stated he was on a mission trip to Africa and took the puppies with him. He said he'd give the puppies away but the victim would have to pay $400 to cover a portion of the shipping costs from Africa.
The CPD reminds citizens to never give out crucial personal and financial information, and do not believe that you need to pay in order to collect winnings. Don't wire or send money to a third party. As usual, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.
If you've been victimized by a scam, contact your banks and creditors, and law enforcement, too. A complaint can be filed with the FBI at 800 251-3221 or www.ic3.gov.
Questions, contact the CPD at 281-3111.
