DAVENPORT, IOWA (February 2, 2022) — On 1 February, Scott Emergency Communications Center (SECC) received a call for a disturbance in the area of Lowes Home Improvement on Elmore Ave in Davenport. The caller was reporting a problem with terminating an employee of USIC (US Infrastructure Company) and retrieving company property, namely a vehicle. The terminated employee was refusing to return the company-issued vehicle, and threatened he was armed with a pistol and rifle.

The Scott County Sheriff's Office would like to make the public aware of an aggressive phone
scam.

On February 9th, 2015 our Chief Deputy received a phone call on his personal phone from 1 (236)526-553. The person identified themselves as being from Global Technical Support and that his personal computer was connected to the Global Technical Support mainframe and was sending numerous error messages and that it might be infected with a virus. The Chief Deputy recognized this as a scam and began to question the caller. The caller was very aggressive and again stated that my computer was compromised and they were calling to help.

The caller was questioned further and was unable to answer some simple IT related questions. The caller was informed they had reached a law enforcement official and this call was a phone scam. The caller continued with his scam stating he was trying to help and he needed to connect to my computer to help. He was very insistent that I didn't understand, he was from Global Technical Support and he was trying to help.

This was a very aggressive phone scam call and we want to make the public aware in hopes that people will not fall prey to this scam. The caller was very aggressive even after learning he was talking to a law enforcement official and it didn't seem to faze him in the least bit. Generally if you would fall prey and allow them to connect to your computer they may appear to run a virus scan of your computer which would then show a false reading your computer is infected. After they show you the fictitious virus scan, then they usually inform you of a charge to fix your computer, when in fact there is nothing wrong with it.

To learn more about scams and other safety tips, please visit our webpage at http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/sheriff/safety.php.

The Bettendorf Bulldogs and the Pleasant Valley Spartans have united to heighten awareness regarding the dangers of using electronic devices while driving. Thanks to Bettendorf Police Chief Phil Redington and Bettendorf Mayor Bob Gallagher several hundred T-shirts warning of the dangers of Texting While Driving will be given to the students and worn at the Bettendorf/PV basketball games on Friday, December 12, 2014.

During the past week, School Resource Officers Bruce Schwartz and Deputy Jayne Ruckoldt have been announcing statistics and displaying videos regarding the dangers.

On Friday, December 12, 2014, teachers will be asked to view with their students a 10 minute public service announcement regarding the dangers of texting and driving. The PSA was put out by AT&T and is presented from the perspective of people, especially teens, who have been impacted by the death or serious injury of someone who was texting and driving. Teachers are encouraged to discuss the video with students.

The three main types of driver distraction are: visual, manual and cognitive. Texting is the most alarming driver distraction because it involves all three types of distraction. According to the Iowa Department of Transportation texting makes drivers 23 times more likely to crash. This is not just a teen problem.

Drive Safe - It can Wait!