I’ve gotten quite a few reports lately that scammers have been texting cell phone numbers in PennsWoods ads. I would imagine that they are using blocks of texting numbers from free phone apps, or something along those lines. The texts usually direct a person to communicate with an email address, and there is typically an excuse why phone conversations are not possible.

I just wanted to remind everyone that if you are contacted via text message, there is no guarantee that the person actually has a PennsWoods account, and tracing a mix of text and emails is something that law enforcement are going to have trouble with.

If you receive a text message with a really good offer on something, meet in person or at least have a phone conversation. This doesn’t give 100% certainty, but not being able to do this should give you reason to pause.

Also never accept excess payment and return it to the sender. It is a very common scam to send a larger check / money order than is needed, and ask for the balance to be returned via your own check. By the time the check / money order sent to you bounces (possibly months later), your check has been cashed and the money is long gone.