Wakulla County Sheriff’s deputies are warning residents about a “vehicle advertising” scam that’s been plaguing the Florida Panhandle and parts of Georgia.
Sheriff’s office spokesman Keith Blackmar says the scam was advertised in the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper, and he called it a variation of an old scam.
“An individual responds to what they think is a potential job opportunity and when they contact the scammer, they get a communications back that says ‘we’ll be sending you a check. Please deposit the check in the bank and please send along a certain amount of money, after you save something out of the check.’ However, the check is going to be fake and by the time you send the money to these folks, you’re going to end up losing your money,” said Blackmar.
In this case, the scammers asked motorists to place a “wrap around” advertisement of Coca Cola. Blackmar says they’ve gotten several calls and two more Thursday morning.
“There were others from other parts of Leon County and we got a call from Georgia who had seen a post on our social media site about it and she said she was about to respond to it as well. And, was grateful when she realized it was not legitimate,” he added.
Blackmar advises residents not to send money to someone that they don’t know and be aware that it’s unlikely someone would ever send money before services are rendered.
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