Caller posed as a Health and Human Services employee
Walworth County residents should be on the lookout for a recent telephone scam that has targeted a number of area people, according to a press release from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Elizabeth Aldred, director of HHS, said area residents have reported receiving a call from someone falsely identifying himself as a “Health and Human Services Department staff.”
The fraudulent caller advised people on the other end that the receiving caller was awarded a $14,000 grant from Health and Human Services. The caller then explains the next step is for the recipient to meet the individual in the community at a specified location and to bring $300 to complete the process and the paperwork. The caller explained once that step was completed the recipient would then be sent the money.
“At no time would a Walworth County employee ever phone people to ask you to meet at a community location to exchange money for a grant. This practice of requesting payment is an obvious sign of a scam and an illegal attempt to defraud,“ Aldred said.
Residents who have reported receiving these calls said they have come from an individual with an accent and that no number was available.
The Department of Health and Human Services has contacted the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office to notify them of the calls.
Anyone who receives a call similar to this is encouraged to contact their local Police Department and file an online complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov.
