Hannibal Fire Dept, Lewis County Sheriff Warn of Phone Scams

A couple of area agencies are reporting phone scams you should be on the lookout for.

The Hannibal Fire Department has received reports from people who have received a call from a woman claiming to represent the Hannibal Fire Auxiliary, selling raffle tickets for a bicycle.

Officials advise that the Hannibal Fire Department, Hannibal Rural Fire Department and HFD Local 1211 are not conducting a bike raffle.

If you get such a call, hang up. Do not donate or purchase tickets.

Also, the Lewis County Sheriff’s office reports they have gotten reports from several citizens of receiving a phone call which appears to be from the sheriff’s office.

In these kinds of scams, the scammers engage in a practice known as "spoofing," the ability to make their call appear to be from a local number. In this case, the scammers were able to make it look like the call was coming from the Lewis County Sheriff's Office and were able to pose as law enforcement.

The scammer tells the citizen their Social Security Number has been used in crimes in the state of Texas and they ask the citizen to confirm their Social Security Number.

You are advised to never give out your personal information over the phone. No reliable business or government agency will contact you by phone asking for personal information.