FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa, — The Franklin County District Attorney’s Office has been made aware of a scam that involves callers claiming to be associated with Reader’s Digest. The callers notify residents that they may have won a 1.5 million dollar sweepstakes. The caller advises that they require a processing fee in order to proceed, and asks for a credit or debit card number to complete the process.
Scammers often tend to pose as a representative of a well-known company or contest and will try to sound very convincing in order to obtain people’s credit card or bank account numbers. Legitimate businesses will not solicit that kind of information over the phone. A lot of times scammers are not even located in the same state as the person they are calling, or even in the same country.
The District Attorney’s Office wants to remind citizens that if someone has called them informing them that they have won a sweepstakes, that they should not provide the caller with any personal or banking information. If something seems to good to be true, it just might be. Scammers will disguise their phone number with various computer programs, so even if the caller ID says “Reader’s Digest” it is not legitimate.
If you believe that you are a victim of a scam contact your local Municipal Police Department or the Pennsylvania State Police.
