Irish Travelers, phone scams now target Wilkes residents

Both Wilkes County Sheriff's Office and the Washington Police are warning of scam artists and thieves that are known to be targeting Wilkes County residents.

Chief Deputy Mike Sisson said that Warren County authorities arrested a group of Irish Travelers who were robbing Warren County homes while pretending to be cable TV repairmen.

Sisson said that it concerns him that the Travelers said that they had intended to go to Washington but went to Warrenton by mistake.

In the two-man scam, a fake-cable-guy is just a diversion for a second person, a sneak thief. "One man gets you to your front door or outside and talks about cable," Sisson said, "while his accomplice gets in your house by the back door and steals everything he can find."

If any person who comes to your door makes you suspicious, he said, call the Sheriff's Office.

Scammers aren't just operating in person. In Washington, residents are getting unauthorized and possibly dishonest phone solicitations.

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Phone calls asking for donations to buy bulletproof vest for local police officers are not authorized and may be the work of scammers, Washington Police Chief Mike Davis warns.

"The Washington Police Department has received several calls from citizens in reference to solicitation for money to purchase bulletproof vests for officers," he said.

Telephone fund raisers call and say they are raising funds for the Fraternal Order of Police or the Police Officers Association of Georgia.

"The Police Officers Association of Georgia is not a sanctioned organization," Davis said. "No one from the Fraternal Order of Police has made contact with the Washington Police Department concerning bulletproof vests," he said, and the police department has never received any equipment or operational funds from the Fraternal Order of Police.

Concerning anyone calling citizens to raise funds, Davis said, "You need to know that identity theft is on the rise, and your personal information needs to be protected at all times. A skilled telemarketer can extract information that an unsuspecting victim may not realize. Don't provide any personal information over the telephone."

Chief Davis says his best advice is: "Don't be a fish on the line - hang up!"

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