Sheriff's Office Looking Into Credit Card Scam

The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office has received several calls for service Monday involving people living in the county receiving an Amazon credit card, issued by Chase Bank, or a letter stating that their credit card application was denied. None of the individuals requested or applied for the credit card. Some of the complainants said the card came with their maiden name or an outdated address that they used before 911 addressing. The Sheriff's Department is not aware how the people’s names and addresses were obtained, but believes the issue must be fairly widespread.

If you receive a credit card in the mail issued in your name call the issuing company and make sure the card is cancelled and not activated. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint, or call 877/438-4338. After making an FTC report call your local Police and obtain a Police Report. These two documents comprise an Identity Theft Report.

You may also place a Fraud Alert on your credit report. You can do this by contacting one of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. Doing this places a fraud alert on your credit report for 90 days: Equifax at 800/525-6285...Experian at 888/397-3742...or TransUnion at 800/680-7289.

Sheriff Dave Mahon would like to remind everyone to check bank and credit card statements when they arrive, shred all important documents before you throw them away, and do not respond to emails, texts or phone calls that ask for personal information.