Oneida County Sheriff’s office wants to put people on the alert for text messages that falsely appear to be from local banks.
The Sheriff’s department received two separate reports this week…of text messages warning of an approaching card limit. Lieutenant Lloyd Gauthier says the messages asked for card and pin numbers, and appeared to be coming from two Rhinelander credit unions.
“The Oneida County Sheriff’s office contacted the three credit union institutions in the Rhinelander area. And we were told none of the financial institutions would contact their members through text messaging.”
Gauthier says this is the first time the department has received reports about text-related scams. A detective at the Sheriff’s office is looking into where the fraudulent messages might be coming from.
“At this point it’s hard to tell. And we’re not sure if we’re gonna be able to figure out where the source of it is. Some of these scams originate overseas – and it’s very difficult to track down who is actually behind the request for money.”
The Sheriff’s office says beware of giving out personal information via text message, phone or email.
