Attention Citizens Tri-County Bank customers and non-customers! If you receive a text message on your phone regarding your debit card, please DO NOT follow the link in the text. This is a scam, and if you follow the link, you could be tricked into providing your debit card number and other sensitive information that could allow your card to be used fraudulently. Simply ignore or delete the text.
REMEMBER, Citizens Tri-County Bank will NEVER text you asking you to provide this sort of information.
The bank is represented in 8 counties including its three locations in Tullahoma.
The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department received information about this scam on Thursday morning from area residents. Sheriff Steve Graves said some of the questions about the text messages are coming non-customers of the bank.
Remember the bank had nothing to do with the text. This is a SCAM!

(A portion of this information came from a bank press release)

The Inspector General for the Social Security Administration (SSA) continues to warn the public and Social Security beneficiaries in particular, to be aware of fraud scams that target personal information. The SSA website reminds people that criminals use phone calls, emails, and other methods to obtain personal information, then use it to commit identity theft.
The latest scam is taking place in Coffee County. Citizens are receiving calls from scammers telling the intended victim that their card has been used in fraud cases. They go on to say they need the victims Social Security number and money so they can put a freeze on the number.
Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves warns area citizens to not fall prey to scammers, saying that you should never give out personal information unless you can verify the request.
The Inspector General for the Social Security Administration website warns that identity thieves obtain personal information in any number of ways. They may pose as Government officials in an attempt to convince you to provide personal and financial information.
To help prevent this type of fraud, the Inspector General website recommends that you:

Never provide your personal information when receiving unsolicited calls or contacts

Never agree to accept pre-paid debit cards or credit cards in another person’s name

Never agree to send or wire money to an unknown person

Always contact your local SSA office if you receive a call from a person claiming to be from SSA, and that person asks you to provide your Social Security number or other information.

To verify the legitimacy of a caller who claims to be an SSA employee, call your local Social Security office or Social Security’s toll-free customer service number at 1-800-772-1213.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is providing more than $305,000 in grants to help libraries upgrade their computer equipment and software.
State officials say the grants will go to 128 public libraries across Tennessee.
The grants will help finance technology upgrades for equipment used directly by patrons, as well as computers needed by library staff to perform tasks such as taking inventory and cataloging books.
Secretary of State Tre Hargett says libraries need to have up-to-date computer equipment and software in order to provide the best possible service to their patrons.
Each library had to commit to provide matching funds from local sources to qualify for a grant.

A Tennessee judge on Wednesday upheld the state’s lethal injection process for executing inmates.
Davidson County Chancery Judge Claudia Bonnyman said from the bench that the plaintiffs, 33 death row inmates, didn’t prove that the one-drug method led to a painful and lingering death. She also said the plaintiffs didn’t show during a lengthy trial that there have been problems in states where the method has been used.
“Plaintiffs were not able to carry their burdens … on any of their clams,” Bonnyman said.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Kelley Henry said they plan to appeal.
Tennessee’s protocol calls for the use of pentobarbital mixed to order by a pharmacist, because the only commercial producer of the drug has placed restrictions on its distribution to prevent it from being used in executions.
Tennessee has not executed an inmate for more than five years because of legal challenges and problems in obtaining lethal injection drugs.
Lawmakers moved from a three-drug lethal injection method to a one-drug method and to reinstate the electric chair as a backup. Both changes brought challenges, and all previously scheduled executions have been put on hold.
Although Tennessee has yet to carry out an execution using compounded pentobarbital, state attorney Scott Sutherland has said that Texas, Ohio and Georgia have had more than 30 successful and painless executions with that drug. (WKRN-TV)