Local police say scam calls are on the rise

MILAN, Tenn. — “We get calls almost daily about some type of scam,” Milan Police Chief Bobby Sellers said.

Chief Sellers says the number of phone scams in the area is on the rise.

“It might be an IRS scam or someone calling to tell you that you won a cruise or a trip or something like that,” Chief Sellers said.

Sellers says the more you talk, the more they ask. “If you stay on the line long enough, they will start asking you bank account information or personal information you don’t need to be giving strangers over the telephone.”

The most frustrating thing is there’s really nothing to be done to stop them.

“People need to understand that most of these scams are coming from overseas and there’s very little your local law enforcement can do about it,” Chief Sellers said.

He says scammers are getting creative with the numbers they use to call you.

“They’re innovative enough where they are using the technology to make you think it’s somebody local, but they are really just using internet phones,” Sellers said.

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News asked which age group is targeted the most.

“It seems like the elderly are victims more than younger people because they are a more trusting generation,” Sellers said.

Sellers says the IRS never does business over the phone and the scammers are starting to realize that.

“Some of the scammers have gotten creative where they are sending personal letters in the mail to people,” Sellers said.

Chief Sellers says if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

Officials say never give out personal information to anyone you don’t know over the phone.