By BECKY KISER and COOPER SLOUGH
Hays Post
A $6 million scam ring based in Great Britain. Busted. More than two dozen people arrested.
An IRS scam ring hosted in India busted within the last two months.
An Ellis resident scammed out of $2,200 Wednesday. It’s still under investigation.
“They hacked somebody’s account,” according to Ellis Police Chief Taft Yates.
“The person received a message from this friend that said ‘I was just given this grant and I’m willing to share the money with you if you send me some money first.’ The first thing the victim should have done is call that friend to verify the message, but it didn’t happen. Then the person realized they were in too deep.
“Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed to call or report it,” Yates urges, “because we’ve got to get it stopped somewhere.”
Chief Yates wants people to realize “it doesn’t matter if you are male, female, rich, poor, young or old, it can and it will happen to anybody if you’re not diligent.”
“Scammers are always evolving–their tactics, their techniques–always changing them around.”
Yates advises making your computer passwords very strong and to “change them every now and again. Alert your friends of scams that have happened.”
It can come through Facebook, your email, a popup on your computer, on your phone, in the mail, somebody at your door or even in the gas station parking lot.
The scam artist targeting travelers happened in Ellis three years ago.
“A guy comes up to you and says ‘a buddy of mine just won all this money and if you’ve got a couple bucks, you can triple your money. All you gotta do is go play this game.’ They’re smooth talkers. They get you fed into it and then all of a sudden you’re losing your money and they’re not going to give it back. Somebody calls law enforcement and when his lookout–that you didn’t know about–sees a cop car coming up, they use their signal and these guys are gone.”
Be alert of suspicious letters received in the mail saying you’ve won something, “especially if you’ve never registered to win this item. Don’t send off for it, don’t call, don’t give any information about yourself,” Yates advises.
“Some things are legitimate,” he acknowledges. “But before you give any information to anybody, you need to completely check it out and make sure it’s valid. Make sure your insurance company actually sent someone to your house to check the roof damage. Make sure your relative really did call you.
Scammers use computers to dial randomly generated phone numbers.
“We had one instance where it sounded like a young person on the phone saying ‘Grandpa, I’m stranded and need some money.’ Grandpa asks who it is and the reply is ‘This is your grandson. You know me.’ Then Grandma gets on the phone and says ‘We have 10 grandsons. Which one is this?’ Click. The caller hangs up.
“You have to be smart and don’t give any personal information over the phone. None. Period. Just don’t.
“Another person got a call saying there was a arrest warrant out for them regarding a credit card. This person has never had a credit card.”
Yates also cautions against inheritance notices. “You didn’t inherit anything from anybody in England, Egypt or anyplace else. It did not happen–unless your mama told you it happened. If your mama tells you ‘you’re inheriting this money from my aunt,’ you can take your mother’s word for it. But this person on the phone or the internet, please don’t fall for it. It did not happen. You’re going to lose–a lot.”
Classified ads are also targeted.
“We just had this happen on two Nex-Tech classified ads,” Yates recalled.
“These people were very smooth at what they did. They wrote ‘I want to buy this item from you.’ Say you’re asking $1,000 for it. They send you an invalid check for $2,000 and ask you to send them $500 back and to keep the other $500 for your inconvenience.
“What they did is send you a no-good check for $2,000 and you just gave them $500 of your money.”
If you’re scammed, don’t try to negotiate, he recommends. Report it–as soon as it happens.
“We had a case where an individual was called on the phone and told ‘Do not hang up this phone. If you do, the SWAT team is coming in your door. You know you’ve done something wrong.’
“They talked to this person for over 45 minutes and convinced them to go to various stores and buy gift cards, scratch off the card code numbers and tell the code numbers to the caller so the scammers could get the money value from them. That money could be going to ISIS, Al Qaeda, Taliban, drug cartels, or just into their own pockets.
“Reporting these scams and getting them documented is the only way we’re going to be able to focus assets at a national and international level to locate and take care of these people,” said Yates.