Kathy Egan news@greenepublishing.com
There is another scam affecting people in our area. This is what happens: someone texts you with a conversational tone and says something friendly, as if they know you. You answer and they engage you with small talk. If you say something like, “Who is this,” the scammer uses the name of a person he got from your Facebook friends list or some other social media profile. Eventually, the texting scammer will ask for money, usually prompting you to use one of the payment apps, like Venmo or CashApp, to send money. If you are deceived by the text message, thinking that you know the person, you might be conned into sending money. Don't be fooled. Be sure you know who is on the other end of the messaging app. Don't answer text messages if you don't know who it is. Never send any money unless you are the one who has initiated the payment.