Scams abound during the holiday season – and the latest variation on an old theme involves scam artists using the Verizon name in an attempt to illegally obtain personal information such as debit and credit card numbers.

One Cherokee County resident was targeted twice, in less than a week – receiving calls from con artists claiming to be Verizon representatives.

In the first instance the caller claimed the customer’s account was past due – and in order to keep their service from being terminated, they needed to make a payment immediately; they were then asked for their credit card number.

The second go-around was slightly different, with the caller claiming that the customer’s account had accidentally been de-activated and they simply needed a debit card number to re-activate that account.

Fortunately – the intended target in both cases was smart enough to simply hang up on the would -be rip-off artists.

Remember, in cases like this, it’s almost impossible to catch the criminals – simply because most of the time they operate outside the country, or simply can’t be tracked; so it’s really up to you to protect yourself – and the best way to do that is to be AWARE.  THINK before you speak – and never ever give out any personal, private information over the phone to someone you don’t know especially if THEY contacted YOU.

Hanging up on a crook isn’t rude – it’s just the smart thing to do.

Using curse words before you hang up – well, that’s optional and completely up to you.