FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana State Police are warning Indiana residents about a “Child Safety Kit” scam on Facebook, after receiving a complaint by a Fort Wayne resident.

The scam offers a “Child Safety Kit” through a link on Facebook. The link asks to submit personal information: name, address and a phone number. Once this information is submitted, it is followed up by a phone call where the scammer requests a set up an in-home visit to further the transaction.

The woman, who initially made the complaint to troopers, reports receiving two calls from “very persistent” males requesting to come to her home to install an app on her phone as part of the “Child Safety Kit.”

The callers were very persistent in setting up an appointment and falsely claimed that they worked directly with the Indiana State Police, the report said. The callers never provided a name or company name, according to troopers.

However, this scam has been ongoing, reported by the Louisville-based WDRB news channel in December 2019. An Evansville woman was victimized by the scam, troopers said.

In the report, troopers remind Hoosiers that scam artists are pervasive across both the internet and social media platforms. Scammer’s methods are intrusive to your personal and financial situation, troopers said. However, they can resort to invading personal space too.

Luckily, the resident who reported the scam did not fall into the scammer’s tactics. Troopers say Hoosiers can protect themselves by:

• Always considering any unsolicited internet/social media transaction with a “buyer beware.”
• Never provide personal or financial information to an unknown source, whether it be on the internet, email or phone.
• Do not be intimidated by a scammer’s pervasiveness. Delete the internet conversation or hang up the home when something does not feel right.
• If you have been victimized by a scammer, suspicious or threatening information should be reported to your local law enforcement immediately.