Laurel County, KY - Sheriff John Root is reporting that: The Laurel County Sheriff's office has completed its investigation on a suspected scam reported on 10-10-2016.
Reports were being received of a red SUV occupied by five individuals that were approaching older Laurel County citizens and suspected of misrepresenting themselves as a local newspaper in Laurel County and stating that they needed to get a picture of the individual, and they needed to see identification to confirm the age of the person.
Earlier this month an older citizen was approached in Western Laurel County by these individuals. A check with local newspapers revealed that they were not conducting a survey.
The Sheriff's office received information on Tuesday 10-11-2016 that a local church's youth group had been participating in a scavenger hunt and that one of the elements of the scavenger hunt included locating a person 80 or older and take their picture.
Therefore, the Sheriff's office has concluded that apparently the earlier suspected spam report is apparently just a misunderstanding that occurred.
Original release below:
Sheriff John Root is reporting that: the Laurel County Sheriff's office has received reports of a red S UV occupied by five individuals that are approaching older Laurel County citizens misrepresenting themselves as a local newspaper in Laurel County and stating that they need to get a picture of the individual, and they need to see identification to confirm the age of the person.
This past weekend an older citizen was approached in Western Laurel County by these individuals. A check with local newspapers has revealed that they are not conducting this survey, therefore this is obviously a scam to get personally identifiable information from unsuspecting victims.
If anyone encounters these individuals, they are asked to contact the Laurel County Sheriff's office at 606-864-6600 to report the location of these individuals so that our deputies can determine what their purpose is.
Investigation is continuing.
