By Kalin Krohe, Panhandle Post
The Chadron Police Department is warning residents of a text messaging scam.
On April 2 the Chadron Police Department was notified of a text messaging scam that happened to a local resident. The scam was reported again on April 3 by another person.
"The text message scam was directed to the recipient by first name and stated they needed a favor. The person who sent the message represented themselves as the leader of a local church," Chadron Police Lt. Richard Hickstein said. "The recipient answered the text message inquiring what was needed and the scammer asked the recipient to give him a call. Once the scammer was called...the scammer advised the recipient he would have just called, but he was in a meeting. The scammer then requested the recipient to purchase I-Tunes gift cards for some women battling cancer in the hospital. The scammer advised he could not do the purchases himself due to his busy schedule, but he would reimburse the recipient the next day. Once the recipient indicated they would be willing to help purchase the gift cards, the scammer requested 3 cards for $100 per card...then instructed the recipient to scratch the silver lining laced at the back of the card and send the numbers to him, so he could send the money to the cancer patients easily. Once the transaction was completed, the scammer then asked the recipient to purchase more cards. Fortunately, the recipient realized they were being scammed and ceased any further transactions and reported the incident."
Scams involving the use of text messaging are on the rise.
"We would like to remind everyone to never give out personal or financial information over text message or over the phone," Hickstein said. " The Federal Trade Commission Website, https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scam, has good information for people to read on how to avoid phone and text message scams, block the scams from your electronic devices and provides resources on how to report scams."