Over the past several months, law enforcement and government offices have alerted residents to various telephone and email scams that are surfacing.

As the weather gets warmer, however, those scams can often come from those walking the streets and knocking on residents’ doors.

Unfortunately, in many cases those scams typically involve something that will likely loosen your wallet through your heart.

At the same time, when these scams occur, various law enforcement agencies throughout the county are needed to deal with these issues resulting from these people declaring they are working on behalf of a charity or cause.

It is always important to ensure residents fully understand exactly what cause they are donating to and to ask questions before making a decision.

There is absolutely no reason residents shouldn’t be cautious when making a donation, especially in a case when it is a person or organization with which you may not be familiar.

Most times, those organizations that are trustworthy will make information and the ability to donate readily available to the public.

Throughout the county and region, we have many organizations who need community support and make their information available through various outlets. We, as a community should continue to back those groups, but asking needed question will help lessen the chances of someone being successful at scamming residents.