The Jefferson Police Department reports being notified of a charity scam circulating on Facebook. On Monday afternoon a resident contacted them saying she received a Facebook message from a friend who was working with Lions Club International on a “project” and asked for her support. As questions came in requesting personal information, the resident became suspicious and contacted the friend by phone. This is when she confirmed it had not been a contact initiated by the person she knew and that her friend was not working with that charity. These types of scams are becoming more and more prevalent and people are urged to proceed with caution in any online communication. Verification of the authenticity of any request for money should be done by other means first and you should never give any personally-identifiable information on social media. Scam attempts can be reported to the Iowa Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 888-777-4590 or by email to consumer@ag.iowa.gov.
