The Reed CIty Police Department is warning residents of some recent scams targeting the elderly.

According to officers, the caller advises they are from the Reader’s Digest and the person has won the sweepstakes and a vehicle. The first caller advises they have won and states they are calling from Lansing. The victim is advised there are taxes that have to be paid and to call a second number for further information. The number for the first caller turns out to be a Chicago phone provider and the second number is a cloud based voice mail service from New York.

Anyone receiving this type of phone call is advised to hang up.

To date we have only received only one call and no money has been lost. Any monies won from a private entity would have the taxes processed when an income tax return is filed. Any vehicle won would have to be processed through a car dealer and taxes would be paid at that time.