People Are Being Scammed In Northfield; What You Should Know

NORTHFIELD, MN — The Northfield Police Department (NPD) regularly receives reports regarding various types of scams. In the last several weeks, officers have received specific reports that have resulted in a "significant monetary loss." Check out a brief descriptions of each reported incident below, provided by NPD:

• A person received messages and instructions via email and then phone calls demanding payment. The suspects claimed to have obtained the victim’s account numbers and passwords; they threatened to share those numbers if payment was not received. The suspects demanded payment in department store gift cards.
• A person received a phone call from suspects claiming to be the IRS. The caller demanded payment or the victim would be arrested. The victim was instructed to purchase iTunes cards and provide the information to the caller/suspect.
• Another person received a call from someone claiming they were an attorney in Wisconsin, and the victim needed to send money to bail out the victim’s son. The attorney “info” was legitimate, but the caller/suspect was not the attorney. The victim was able to confirm their son was not in jail and avoided the scam.

Tips for avoiding scams

These are just a few examples of the many ways suspects attempt to deceive people into sending cash, checks, money-grams, gift cards/prepaid cards, or private information. If it doesn’t make sense, or sounds too good to be true, it is almost guaranteed to be a scam. If in doubt, call the police. Do not give out private info via the phone, email, or websites to people/entities you do not know.

The IRS, FBI, local law enforcement, and other groups do not normally use email or phone calls to notify you of warrants, fraudulent activity, or to threaten legal action or arrest. If you think someone has tried to scam you of information or money, call (507) 645-4475.

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