Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith is warning area residents to be on guard against scam artists who reportedly have posed as fundraisers for local Little League baseball organizations.

The Sheriff’s Office has received reports from residents in the Brewster, Carmel and Mahopac areas that they have received emails and telephone calls from persons claiming to be representatives of a company called Youth Sports Publications out of New Windsor, New York, who solicited donations purportedly to fund publication of yearbooks for local Little League teams. Little League officials, however, have advised the Sheriff’s Office that no legitimate yearbook fundraising activities are being conducted by those organizations at this time.

The cases reported to the Sheriff’s Office thus far have involved only attempts to solicit funds. No cases have yet been reported in which any monies were paid to the bogus solicitors.

Anyone who may have been the target of the phony solicitation scam should call their local police department or the Sheriff’s Office at (845) 225-4300.