LOWNDES COUNTY — In such a technological age when business transactions are conducted via phone, Internet and e-mail on a daily basis, it may become difficult to determine when personal information is safe or when that sensitive information may be compromised.

In response to recent reports, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office urges citizens to remain aware of telephone, direct mail and Internet scams circulating in the area.

Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Stryde Jones said that the number of scams reported in Lowndes County has reached record heights in the past few months.

“Before, our office would receive an average of one scam complaint per week,” Jones said. “Now, we are receiving an average of 10 scam reports every week.”

Jones said that people seem to be more susceptible to these scams because they may be offered large sums of money or extremely reasonable deals on merchandise.

“During this kind of economic situation when almost everyone is feeling some kind of financial strain, if an opportunity comes along that makes people feel some kind of rescue, they will take that opportunity,” Jones said. “So in a sense, the offenders are taking advantage of the people and the economic conditions.”

The sheriff’s office reports scams such as large advanced payment checks that ask for money in return and items sold on public auction sites for low prices.

“Some sellers will put up pictures of a car on several different public auction sites and ask for money up front for the vehicle,” Jones said. “The sellers usually require that the money is sent Western Union or Money Gram to a company in Canada or some other country.”

Jones said that scammers usually ask for money to be sent via Western Union and Money Gram because there is no trail back to a physical address.

Among other scams are e-mails from people who claim to be associated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), asking for banking information.

“We’ve even had people report that a hitman e-mailed them and said that someone had a hit out on them,” Jones said. “The supposed hitman promises not to harm the person if they send a large sum of money to a certain address.”

Jones said that one of the most popular scams is the mystery shopper offers. He added that a few people actually answered mystery shopper ads in The Valdosta Daily Times Classifieds and discovered they were scams. VDT Publisher Sandy Sanders said that The Times did receive reports of scams listed in the paper. As a result, The Times no longer displays any ads from companies seeking mystery shoppers.

The most interesting scam complaints the sheriff’s office has received stems from online dating. Victims receive e-mails from people who present themselves as military personnel who are deployed overseas. After establishing romantic relationships with the victims, the scammer asks for money to be sent to them in foreign countries.

A scammer caught in Lowndes County can be charged with forgery, which is a felony. Nonetheless, Jones said, none of these scams that come through the sheriff’s office originate in Lowndes County.

“Each time a report of a scam is filed, we do an investigation and we may find various shipping points throughout the United States,” Jones said. “However, it usually leads overseas. From there, it’s not much we can do.”

To help citizens avoid becoming the victims of scams, Jones offers this advice to local residents: “If you’ve truly won something, you don’t have to send any money up front to claim your prize. Don’t trust people who contact you with high-pressure offers. Ultimately, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. If something you were sent seems suspicious, contact us. If it is legitimate, we will tell you. If it isn’t, hopefully, we can save you some heartache.”