A warning from Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe in Wednesday’s Eagle about scam phone calls targeting residents is a reminder that it’s important to be skeptical when getting an unexpected phone call.

Residents have called the Butler County Sheriff’s Office to report calls that claim to come from the sheriff’s office and say the person receiving the call owes money, missed a court date, didn’t show up for jury duty or has an outstanding warrant, among other things. The calls are given an extra air of legitimacy because the caller has the resident’s name and address.

The problem, of course, is that such calls aren’t legitimate. The caller hopes that the surprise and stress of hearing news like that will override common sense. Too often it does.

The Federal Trade Commission offers this warning: “Scammers might pretend to be law enforcement or a federal agency. They might say you’ll be arrested, fined, or deported if you don’t pay taxes or some other debt right away. The goal is to scare you into paying. But real law enforcement and federal agencies won’t call and threaten you.”

The sheriff made the same basic point. Police don’t call and ask for money.

The right thing to do if you get such a call is to hang up. Don’t try to engage with the caller or ask questions — just hang up.

Scam calls come in a variety of forms, but they have some similarities. Here are some tips from the FTC to help figure out if the call is a scam.

The FTC said Americans lost nearly $8.8 billion to fraud — including scam calls — in 2022. It’s essential to be aware of the dangers out there and to protect yourself.

—JK