Phone scams are nothing new, but the Hall County Sheriff's Office said residents recently have lost money to a couple of crooks who are using new tactics.
In a post on the HCSO Facebook page, investigators said in both cases the callers asked the victims for a large sum of money but then asked for less when the victims said they couldn't pay the larger amount.
In one case, the caller claimed to need the money to be released from his military contract. In the other, the offender said he needed bail money and pretended to be a family member. He then had another person talk to the victim who claimed to be his lawyer and this convinced the victim the call was legitimate.
Both victims purchased gift cards and gave the callers the numbers on the back of the cards so they could access the funds.
The sheriff's office did not say how much money was stolen.
