Lenoir City officials to hold sc

Lenoir City officials to hold scam prevention event

wbir.com-A Secret Service agent and a criminal investigator will speak about the many past scams in the area -- and how to watch out for more.

LENOIR CITY, Tenn. — Lenoir City officials are speaking out about scams.

The Lenoir City Police Department and Mayor Tony Aikens will hold a one-hour lecture and Q&A session about scams, fraud and identity theft -- and how to prevent them. The program will take place on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. in the War Memorial Building.

Criminal investigator Sgt. Dan Morton and Senior Special Agent Jeffrey Wallace with the United States Secret Service will be guest speakers at the event.

Mayor Tony Aikens said scams have had a severe impact on Lenoir City.

"I have received numerous reports of people in our city who have become the victim of a scam. The emotional and financial impact has been devastating," Aikens said in a statement Tuesday.

Scams are a growing issue in Tennessee. In March, a U.S. Federal Trade Commission report said Tennesseans lost $18.4 million to scammers in 2018. That makes Tennessee the fifth-leading state per capita when it comes to fraud and scam complaints.

In the past year, a series of different scams hit East Tennessee. Near the start of October, Jefferson County officials warned that phone scammers were posing as sheriff's office employees -- and telling people they were being fined for missing jury duty.

In September, phone scammers posing as KUB representatives targeted customers in the Knoxville area.

Just one month before that, phone scammers nearly tricked a Knox County teacher out of $1,800 in vouchers by posing as deputies -- and saying she had three warrants out for her arrest.