The phone number says it's a call from the hospital, but it isn't.

(Kim, a decorahnews.com reader, asks: "How is it possible that we have been getting phone calls with the caller ID showing as Luther College or Winneshiek Medical Center and you pick the call up and get a robo message saying you have won a vacation. How do they manage to use these identities?):

Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx has agreed to answer this question: "Phone scams have become very prevalent in today's society.  As technology continues to advance, it opens up more and more avenues for these opportunistic criminals to take advantage of innocent and trusting people.  There are thousands of different schemes out there being attempted each and every day.   The bottom  line to prevent falling victim to these scams is to never give out personal information over the phone."

Want to find out how these scammers do it?  Here's a good website: https://lifehacker.com/5853056/how-to-spoof-caller-id