Harney County Dispatch continues to receive reports of phone scams being received in our area.

The most recent is someone claiming to be with Social Security looking for a person unknown to the recipient. Once the recipient states that no one by that name lives there, the caller asks for their name and social security number. Some of these callers can be very convincing. A second report of the same call was received on July 8, but now the caller is putting a person claiming to be a U.S. marshal on the phone, making threats of arrest.

You likely will not receive a cold call from the Social Security Administration (SSA) unless you’ve already been in contact with them recently.

Do not provide any personal information over the phone.

If you receive a call like this:

• You can call their customer service line at 1-800-772-1213 to confirm whether a communication claiming to be from the SSA is legitimate.

• Per the Office of the Inspector General’s website, you can call 1-800-269-0271 to report these phone scams. Be prepared to report the caller’s alleged name, the telephone number they’re calling from, date and time of the call, information requested by the caller, and any other details about the call.

• You can call Oregon Financial Fraud Consumer Protection at 877-877-9392.

• You can also call non-emergency dispatch at 541-573-6028 or come to the Sheriff’s Office at 485 N. Court in Burns.

Here is a reminder about some of the other scams that have hit the area, as they tend to come back around:

• spoofing phone numbers from local agencies such as the hospital or sheriff’s office to get money for an injured family member;

• threats of arrest for a warrant unless someone pays;

• claiming to be a deputy threatening the above; and

• claiming to be the IRS with back money owed, making threats of a warrant.

Please share this with friends and family who may not be on social media, especially our elderly folks who are the most targeted during these scams.