Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office officials warned residents Tuesday about an increase in sophisticated phishing and cryptocurrency scams targeting people across the county, particularly elderly citizens.
The sheriff’s office said scammers are posing as banks, government agencies and tech support and contact victims by phone, text or email. They use fear, urgency or emotional stories to claim there are unauthorized charges, that accounts will be frozen or that funds must be moved immediately to prevent loss.
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said the callers often remain on the line during transactions, pressure victims not to speak with bank employees and sometimes instruct victims to lie about the reason for withdrawals. “These scammers are professionals. They do this every single day, and they are very convincing,” Hawkins said. “If you’ve been targeted, don’t be embarrassed — you are not alone. We encourage everyone to report it. The sooner we know about it, the better chance we have of protecting others in our community.”
The office urged residents not to share passwords, account numbers or verification codes and warned that no legitimate bank or government agency will ask you to move money into Bitcoin. If pressured to act immediately, hang up and contact your bank using the number on your card. Once funds are moved through cryptocurrency, recovery is extremely difficult and often impossible. Anyone who believes they have been targeted should contact the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office at 662-328-6788, Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 1-800-530-7151 or submit a tip via the P3-Tips app. This is a developing story and will be updated as more details emerge.
