Alyssa Ridenour
ECB Publishing, Inc.
On Monday, May 24, ECB Publishing received a phone call on their landline business phones from an “850” area code that appeared on the caller ID as a Monticello phone number. When picked up, an automated voice claiming to be “...your local newspaper, ECB Publishing...” informed them that their subscription is expiring and to confirm payment, they needed to press “one.”
This alerted staff at ECB Publishing, Inc. of a scam. As your local newspaper, we will never send out an automated phone call asking to collect or confirm payment or account information. All notices of subscription expirations will be sent to you via mail, to the address you provided us with for your newspaper deliveries. We will not call you.
If you receive a call claiming to be your local newspaper, hang up immediately and report the phone number to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by calling 1(877)382-4357. If you have already given them account or debit or credit card information, contact your bank and inform them that you believe you have been scammed, and have them shut down your account(s) and/or debit or credit card(s) immediately. If you have made a payment to a scammer, call your bank and inform them that the charge to your account was fraudulent. From there, they can reverse the charge and secure your account.
If you have reason to believe that in the process of the scam, your identity has been stolen, go to IdentityTheft.gov to see what steps you need to take from there. For additional information on scams and what actions to take in response to being scammed, go to https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-do-if-you-were-scammed#Paid. This is a page on the official FTC website that will walk you through what to do if you paid a scammer, if you gave a scammer your personal information and if a scammer has gained access to your computer or phone and how to report a scam to the FTC.