Several Marion County residents have contacted the sheriff’s office reporting that they have received phone calls from individuals claiming to work for cash advance loan businesses. The caller claims that the victim has an outstanding loan balance and that a lawsuit or criminal charges will be filed against them if some type of payment is not made. The callers pressure the victim and offer a financial solution to the problem to avoid any punitive action being taken them. In these specific cases, the callers have told the victims to go to Walmart to either get a gift card or to wire money to a third party through Western Union. In all of the reported cases, none of the victims had an outstanding cash advance loan and none went to Walmart to pay the suspects.

If you receive one of these phone calls remember that you know that you owe no money and not to let the callers’ veiled threats of a lawsuit or arrest upset you to the point that you give in to their demands or give them personal information. Simply tell the caller that they are mistaken and hang up on them.

Sheriff Bailey recommends taking the following actions to insure that you don’t become a victim of this scam:

· Go to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office website and click on the Ohio Attorney General’s scam widget and report the phone call to their scam division.

· Never give personal information (name, date of birth, account numbers or social security number) to individuals that you didn’t contact or don’t know.

· Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information. The email may include upsetting or exciting, but false statements to get an immediate reaction.

· Avoid filling out forms in email messages that request personal information.

· Check bank, credit, and debit card statements regularly to ensure there are no unauthorized transactions. If anything looks suspicious, contact the bank and all card issuers.

· When contacting companies, use telephone numbers provided on the back of the cards or statements. Do not click on links in emails or call numbers that are not on your cards or statements.