OTTAWA — The Franklin County Sheriff’s office said two telephone scams have stung at least two people in the county this week. Detective Allen Campbell said someone lost $2,800 in a bail-bond scam. That’s a relatively sophisticated scam in which someone receives a phone call in which the person is told a relative has been jailed in another state or in Canada and asked to send bail money. The scammer is especially convincing because the scammer knows the names of the relatives. In the other scam, someone was told she won a new car and $2.5 million and was asked to send money for taxes and other fees. Campbell said she refused to give the caller her bank account number or credit card number but agreed to wire money. The person lost $360, he said. However, Campbell says there is evidence that several other people in Franklin county may have been bilked and have wired money to phone numbers in the 498 area code, which isn’t an existing area code in North america. The United Nations says 498 is the telephone area code of Moldova in Eastern Europe and one of the break-away republics from the former Soviet Union.
Thursday, July 22, 1:30 a.m.
