Scam calls on the rise
Posted/updated on: June 18, 2026 at 10:39 am
Smith County – Smith County and surrounding areas have seen an uptick in scam calls — specifically, calls that instill fear by making it seem a family member is in danger and you need to pay to save them.
Smith County Precinct 4 Constable Josh Joplin and a local woman, who had experienced one of these scam calls, say they can seem so real, even using the sound of someone in distress to sell their story. The calls from unknown people range from kidnapping a loved one to crying out that a daughter’s been in a crash. These scammers are capitalizing on the fear.
Tammy Humes says she received a phone call from a regular, wireless number with a local area code, urgently stressing that her daughter had been in a car crash, and money was needed to tow her car. In the background, she could hear a woman yelling, “Mom!”
“A parent’s gonna freak out hearing that their child’s in an accident,” Humes said.
Humes said she recognized the caller was not able to provide a location of the call or identify the daughter, instead only saying he needed her credit card information.
“It dawned on me that I had Life360, the app on my phone, and that if she was really in an accident, I would’ve got an alert that her car had been wrecked,” Humes said.
Even though she has a spam blocker on her phone, ultimately it was having the app and being in contact with her daughter that saved her from losing all her information.
Constable Joplin says he’s been seeing an uptick in similar scam calls, with one man fainting in a Walmart after being told his daughter was kidnapped over the weekend.
Joplin explained that the man had received a random landline call which demanded $10,000 in exchange for his kidnapped daughter’s safety. In the back of the call, a woman could be heard screaming. The man went to Walmart after being directed to deposit the money, but fainted from fear.
After EMS was able to provide emergency care, the man told authorities what had happened and his daughter was found to be safe.
“?This is just one of many that we’re seeing,” Joplin said. “We see a lot of the ones where people are calling and saying that folks have missed federal jury duty, and that they owe a specific amount of money for not showing up and they’re telling them to go to Walmart. There is absolutely no law enforcement or government entity that is going to ask you to take money to Walmart and send it through an electronic machine. Situations like what we dealt with over the weekend where this was a fictitious kidnapping and they were trying to use that as a way to get money out of people. They are coming up with creative ways to abuse people and get financial gain out of it.”
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Joplin urges the public to be aware that these calls are happening, and to look out for red flags such as numbers you don’t recognize and urgency and fear tactics. He also recommended reaching out to a family member to help verify, or to even text 911 if necessary.
“If you wanna not hand your credit card over to a mystery caller and end up being out multiple thousands of dollars, you have to put a safety net around you and put a safety net around your loved ones,” Humes said. “The best way to do that is take advantage of technology.”
How to avoid phone scams:
Don’t answer calls from numbers you don’t know
Hang up right away if someone asks for money or personal information
If you feel pressured, or a caller asks you to pay with gift cards, it’s a scam
Never share account numbers, Social Security numbers, passwords, PINs, or other important information over the phone
If someone says they’re calling from a company or a government agency, hang up and call back using an official phone number from an account statement (if you have one) or their website
Don’t respond to texts or click on links sent from numbers you don’t recognize
Set up strong passwords for your voicemail so it doesn’t get hacked
Talk to your phone company about call blocking tools they may have and check into apps that you can download to your mobile device to block unwanted calls
What to do if you already paid a scammer:
If paid with a credit or debit card: Contact the company or bank that issued the credit card or debit card. Tell them it was a fraudulent charge. Ask them to reverse the transaction and give you your money back.
If paid through a payment app: Report the fraudulent transaction to the company behind the payment app and ask them to reverse the payment. If you linked the app to a credit card or debit card, report the fraud to your credit card company or bank. Ask them to reverse the charge.
If paid with cryptocurrency: Contact the company you used to send the money and tell them it was a fraudulent transaction. Ask them to reverse the transaction.
If you gave a scammer your personal information: Go to IdentityTheft.gov to see what steps to take, including how to monitor your credit.
If you or someone you know is being scammed online or through phone, contact your local law enforcement. For more information on how to avoid or report scams, visit the Federal Trade Commission website.
