Telephone scam

On Friday, May 3, Stearns County Sheriff Steve Soyka sent area media a press release outlining a phone scam that has hit central Minnesota.

The Stearns County Sheriff's office has received several reports of phone scams in the past few days. Area residents are receiving calls from scammers acting as Stearns County Sheriff'f office employees and the call is coming from a Stearns County Sheriff's office phone number. The scammer is stating that a relative is in jail and needs money. These calls are scams and should be ignored. If you have further concerns, please contact the Sheriff's office at 320-251-4240.

Also, as a reminder, citizens are asked to guard closely their personal information when talking over the phone. In the case of communication with a person or persons you are not familiar with, do not give out any type of personal information, especially sensitive financial information that should remain private.