Chamber warns of organization using its name

The Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce is warning its members of a possible scam using the organization's name.

In an email Monday, the chamber advised members that an organization claiming to be the Jackson chamber had been soliciting information from members.

"Please do not give them any personal or business information," the email stated. "We are not soliciting advertising, taking a poll or survey."

The chamber's email was the second message in as many weeks warning consumers of possible scams.

In late January, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster issued a news release about the "One Ring" scam, which targets cellphone customers.

Scammers -- usually calling from numbers outside the U.S. -- call a cellphone, let it ring once, then hang up, Koster said in the release.

A number for the missed call appears on the recipient's caller ID; recipients who call the number end up with a $20 charge for the international call plus per-minute charges for "premium services" while supplying the scammer with confirmation that he has reached a working number that he can sell to other scammers, the release stated.

Koster advised consumers to monitor phone bills closely, avoid returning calls from unfamiliar numbers and never press buttons in response to automated recordings or give out personal information in response to unsolicited calls.

"There's just so many stinking scams out there right now," said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

On its website, bbb.org, the Better Business Bureau maintains a blog warning of various phone and Internet scams.

In one, callers pose as utility company representatives in an attempt to extort money or financial information from customers who mistakenly believe their power is about to be shut off.

In another, scammers create fake profiles through online dating sites, then ask their targets for money so they can travel to meet them in person.

Last summer, the bureau warned of a scheme in which callers gained credit-card information or remote access to consumers' computers by posing as Microsoft representatives and telling them their computers had been infected with a virus.

"I tell people all the time that unless you generated that call ... you don't give your information out to anybody over the phone," Hickey said.

Technology makes it hard to tell the source of a call, even with caller ID, Hickey said.

"I could mask my number and call people from 388-3642, and they would think it was coming from the Southeast Missourian," he said. " ... Criminals are using that technology."

Hickey recommends asking the caller for a number, then verifying it before calling back.

Asking for information in writing is another way to discourage scammers, Hickey said, but he cautioned against giving out mailing addresses over the phone.

"Don't offer your phone number, your birth date, address, anything," he said.

Some scammers may gather several pieces of personal information from records found in the trash in telephone lists or elsewhere, then call to get additional pieces of information so they can steal the person's identity, Hickey said.

"They may just be looking for that one bit of information that will finalize" their scheme, he said.

He also advised against verifying information the caller already has.

"I don't verify anything over the phone unless I initiated the call," Hickey said.

Reporter Amity Shedd contributed information for this story.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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