Winona Police Department issued the following announcement on Dec. 15.
We have had several fraud complaints that have been reported recently and several businesses have been targeted.
Some of the recent scams have been in regards to the business's corporate executives doing a security check and notices of power being shut off. The recent scams have initially appeared as legitamate involving multiple people. They have also resolved around immediate urgency.
With that in mind we wanted to give a few reminders on how to better protect yourself against scams.
1. Know who you're dealing with - Call the number you have associated with your bills when disputing a claim versus the number that called in.
2. Pay the safest way - Credit cards are the safest way to pay as there is a transaction history and charges can be disputed with your credit company. If a company requests gift cards, cash or Cryptocurrency it is very likely a scam.
3. Resist pressure - Legitimate companies and charities will typically be happy to give you time to pay your bill. It's probably a scam if they demand payment immediately or won't take "No" for an answer.
There are many ways to protect yourself and these three tips are great ways to sense it's a scam. For more information on Scams check out this link:
Original source can be found here.
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