An unfortunate trend continues to show itself to the areas senior citizen population.

Financial scams are becoming increasingly common amongst the areas senior citizens, and DeWitt County Sheriff Jered Shofner says with the holidays coming up, there are some trends they are already beginning to see. He says the most common right now involves seniors who have allegedly won a drawing or lottery they did not enter, and are asked to give $200, for example, to receive their prize.

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While the trends in scams are always changing, the Sheriff warns seniors, and others, that when you have to pay to receive a prize for a lottery or drawing you did not enter into, it is most likely a scam.

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Those pre-paid debit cards have become a major source of money laundering in the past few years. Sheriff Shofner says once a person can take stolen money and put it onto one of those cards, it erases any trace law enforcement can follow. He encourages anyone who needs to use one of those to claim a prize or anything like that, to look very closely at the situation first.

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Sheriff Shofner encourages anyone who thinks they may be getting scammed to not be ashamed about it. He notes if one person has had it happen to them, then it has likely happened to someone else. To report a scam, receive information about something you have received via mail, email, or phone call, you can contact the Sheriff's office at 935-3096 or the Clinton Police Department at 935-9441.