Text messages advertising Greene County Sheriff shirts not authorized by GCSO

Earlier this month, Greene County residents reported that they had received text messages which would address them by name and then state, “Greene County Sheriff’s Office shirt $10 off, ready to order now.” The messages each included a hyperlink that the recipients supposedly could click on to order the advertised shirts. One problem, however; the messages weren’t supported by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO).
Paige Rippee, the public information officer with the GCSO, said after people began receiving the messages, they started contacting the department.
“I first heard about these text messages on February 7th,” she said. “The following day the emails, social media messages as well as phone calls started pouring in with concerns about the text message.”
At this point, Rippee said, the department doesn’t know who is sending out the messages.
“With technology today, there are several different phone number generators, as well as Google numbers, that only exist for less than a day,” she said, “(so) it is not easy to track them. When I called several of the numbers just to see who I could get, the number was not an operational phone number any longer.”
Rippee said that anyone who receives a text message about the shirts should not click on the attached hyperlink.
“There are several risks that citizens of the community take when ’clicking’ on the link,” she said. “We do not know specifically what scammers could be targeting, whether it be their email, phone number, or even worse, their sensitive information. One thing it tell citizens of the community regularly (is), ‘If you think it’s a scam, then it’s a scam.”