The Marshall County sheriff says quick thinking may have prevented a rip-off for a rural Marshalltown woman. Sheriff Ted Kamatchus explains it began with a call that came from overseas.The lady got the phone call saying she’d won a sweepstakes in another country and could pick up a prize if she’d pay the customs fee. The woman said she wasn’t buying the story, and hung up. But Sheriff Kamatchus says that wasn’t the end of the attempt.Later a man called and said he was from the federal government, urging her to pay a winnings tax. The woman still wasn’t going for it.He’s confirmed with the FBI that this scam’s going around the state, country…and other countries. The original call probably did come from overseas, and the sheriff says in such a case, caller I-D won’t work. But Kamatchus says there are other strategies.He suggests you get a call-back number you can have checked out, and ask the people promising the prize to come to your house, then have a law-enforcement officer there with you. The sheriff says his department and Marshalltown police are working with federal and international agents to track the source of the scam.
