Gadsden County Sheriff's Office is warning the public about a phone scam involving scammers posing as customer service representatives.
According to GCSO, the scam consists of the scammer making contact with the victim and choosing their victims by purchasing their phone number and email address from the dark web or by using a phishing scam. Some scammers may even cold call their victims, the sheriff's office said.
Next, the scammer would call the victim, posing as a customer service representative. The scammer would tell the victim that their account has been compromised.
GCSO says the victim would then say that they have sent a verification code to the victim for the victim to read that code over the phone. According to the sheriff's office, the scammer uses the victim's phone number and email address to send a legitimate Verizon verification code through Verizon's website.
Once the victim reads the verification code to the scammer, the scammer can now access the victim's account and add their own name to the account. GCSO says at that point, the scammer can turn off account notifications, go to a store location, add a new line and buy a new phone, charging it all to the victim's account.
The sheriff's office says the best way to avoid the scam is to check cellphone accounts often for any unauthorized charges. According to GCSO, a cellphone provider may call its customers but will never ask a customer to read an authorization code over the phone.
The following message is sent when Verizon sends an authorization code to its customers: "For this security of your account, Verizon will never contact you for this code," according to GCSO.
