Bloglander

The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office is warning the public about two phone scams asking for money and personal information. 

The first is a call from a recording claiming to affiliated with the Kootenai County Jail and asking to put money on an inmate's telephone account with a credit card. The number commonly used is 866-516-0155. It appears the number has been disconnected. 

"No one from the Sheriff's Office will be calling you and no auto-dialer from the Sheriff's Office will call asking for credit card information," Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said in a news release. 

The second scam asks family members of recently deceased veterans for money to bring a life insurance policy up to date. The number associated with this scam is 800-772-1233, and it, too, appears to be out of service. 

Wolfinger says his office sees a new jail-related scam about once a month. 

"Don't give personal identifying information or credit card information to someone you do not know or where you did not initiate a business contact," he said via email. 

There have been no arrests made in connection with these scams.