CLARKSVILLE, IN (November 29, 2023) – The season of giving is here and scam artists are already taking advantage of the public’s generosity.  Clarksville Police Chief Mark Palmer says his department has already seen a 40% increase in holiday scams compared to the same time last year.

“Unfortunately, this year especially, it started prior to Thanksgiving,” said Chief Palmer. “We’ve seen a huge amount of scams coming in and a lot of them are posing as local charitable organizations.”

Palmer says traditionally when scam artists call or text, you can see they are from outside of our area with caller ID.  However, he says new technology is allowing scammers to contact you with what looks like an 812 or 502 area code.

“The scam is almost always the same.  They send you repeated text messages, and they will come at all times of the day and night from different numbers, but always usually from the same area code area.”

In past years, Palmer says the bulk of the scams were seen via email or on socials media platforms such as Facebook or Facebook Messenger.  This year he says the main increase in scams is coming in the form of direct calls and text messages.

“The telltale signs on a lot of these are they’re asking for banking information, credit card numbers or they’re asking you to purchase a prepaid visa gift card.”

Residents should never provide banking or credit card information over the phone or via text message, however, Chief Palmer says many are still falling victim to the scam.  Some end up getting hit with thousands of dollars in charges.

“Once you give them access to a credit card, even if you’re only saying I’m going to donate $10, you’re basically giving them a blank check. Next thing you know, $10 turns into $10,000 and we’re seeing that quite a bit.”

It may sound simple, don’t give out your financial information and you won’t get scammed.  So why are area residents still falling for the ploys?  Chief Palmer says one of the issues is that scammers are doing their research on our area and using local, reputable charities as their cover.  Some even claim to be collecting donations for Wounded Veterans and Clarksville’s ‘Shop with a Cop’ program.

“We’ve seen scammers claiming to represent local police and fire departments, charitable organizations, even scammers willing to take advantage of tragic situations such as the Old National Bank shooting in downtown Louisville. It’s just unfortunate that these people take advantage of our residents’ generosity.”

Chief Palmer did make a point to remind us that there are some reputable charities that may call and ask for donations.  This is when it is important for you to do your research and make the donation directly to the organization yourself.

“If you are contacted, the best course of action if contacted is to tell the person, ‘I want to help your organization, but the best way I can do that is reach out to the organization directly. Once I do that, then I’m more than happy to contribute.’”

Palmer says if the person calling you is from a reputable charity, they won’t mind waiting for you to look up the charity online or by phone and making the donation directly.  If they continue to push for a donation then and there, they are most likely a scam artist.  If you are contacted by what you believe to be a scammer, Chief Palmer says it is important to report it so that others don’t become victims.

“Our department keeps a log of these various scams, and if we see they are targeting a certain zip code with the same scam, we can put that information out to the public and prevent others from being victimized.”

Chief Palmer says if you do fall victim to a scam, you should file a report immediately so they can act.  If you are contacted by what you believe to be a scam artist, Clarksville Police ask that you call the non-emergency line at (812) 288-7151 to make a report.