Recent scam directed at local businesses

The Toccoa Police Department are releasing information regarding a recent scam involving local businesses.

According to Toccoa Police Chief Jimmy Mize, officers with the Toccoa Police Department were dispatched to the Walgreens Store on Big A Road in reference to a fraud report.

He says officers were told that a man had called and claimed to be part of the Walgreens Store’s IT Team, the man then told the employee that they were having trouble with the Western Union Kiosk and needed to do some “test” transactions.

The caller was very knowledgeable of computer systems and walked the employee through the process.

Mize said the suspect scammed the store out of just under $1,600.

According to Mize, this same type of scam was used almost 2 years ago at a local gas station.

Similar to this case, the scammer claimed to be from the store’s IT department, having issues with the Western Union kiosk.

The gas station was scammed out of $2,000.

Mize is advising that all local businesses, be aware of who you are talking to or get a number to call back. He adds that the internet has become a wide open space for predators of all kinds.