Phone scam reported in Fayette County

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office issued a fraud alert Feb. 7 after receiving a report of a phone scam.

A resident recently got a phone call from someone claiming to be a DIRECTV employee, and the caller ID appeared to be from the company’s toll-free number. The caller asked the homeowner to buy an Amazon gift card to make a DIRECTV payment or risk service suspension.

The sheriff’s office warns that “spoof” callers can use apps to mimic other phone numbers and recommends that homeowners verify any payment requests by calling their providers directly, since payments made to scammers are seldom recoverable.