South Dakota’s AG urging vigilance against scammers posing as legitimate organizations

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - On Wednesday, South Dakota’s Attorney General reminded people to be alert for scammers when they’re contacted by phone or email.

“Scammers prey on a person’s fear that he or she has done something wrong,” said Attorney General Jackley in his press release on Wednesday. “These are unscrupulous scammers who want nothing but to be to harm consumers financially and emotionally.”

In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission documented 2.4 million fraud reports. That’s down from 2021, but the kicker is that more money was stolen from the people who did end up getting scammed—about $8.8 billion compared to $6.7 billion in 2021.

The main reason for these scams is that imposter calls impersonate banks, government agencies, or local businesses. Protecting yourself from these calls can be as easy as being wary of calls that promise a big reward for as little as a simple gift card, payment via wire transfer, or another payment app, for example, Venmo, Zelle, or CashApp.

Something else that you can do to help vet scam callers is to ask the caller for more information about the company they supposedly work for, asking for their name, the official phone number of the company, and what exactly the report said. In addition, if the number that is calling you sounds like a robot and is asking you to press a button before getting support, don’t; just hang up.

Similarly, instead of pressing a button for “support” if you don’t recognize the phone number or if your phone is marking the call as “unknown” or “telemarketer,” just let it go to voicemail.

Remember, if you ever receive one of these calls, you are encouraged to contact the South Dakota Division of Consumer Protection using their email, consumerhelp@state.sd.us, or you can call them at 1-800-300-1986 or 605-773-4400.

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