Scams have been around since before there was even money. Snake oil salesmen, Ponzi schemes, people trying to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge, there has always been those trying to take something you have through lies and deception.

Today, with technology and social media, scammers have found new and inventive ways to try to cheat you of your money. One such scam has even hit a local woman who found herself losing $5,000 to what she thought was a legitimate security team with a well-known company.

The woman, whose name we’ll keep anonymous, said that on Wednesday, August 31, she received a call with a computer message claiming to be from Amazon, asking if she would confirm a purchase made through her account of an Ipad. The message claimed her account was charged $1,400 for the sale in New York City, and if she had not made the purchase to punch “1” on her phone.

Knowing she had not made the purchase, and believing the call to be legitimate, she quickly hit the “1” number and was quickly transferred to a live human being. The man claimed to be Adrian Chase of the Federal Fraud Office, and told the woman that someone had hacked into her bank accounts and was renting a car and house in her name in Texas.

He told her that they would need to freeze her bank accounts and credit cards, and that she would need to go retrieve her money from the bank before this happened. He then told her to put the money in a Bitcoin account in order for the government to send her a debit card so she would be able to pay her bills.

The woman, still believing the call to be legitimate, told the man that she would have to drive to her bank to withdraw the money, and the man demanded that she not hang up the phone with him while doing this. He told the woman not to trust any bank employees as they may be involved, and not to tell them what was going on. She said she ended up being on the phone with the man for about two hours.

The victim explained that a friend had had her identity stolen a few years ago, and her financials had to be frozen until it was worked out. She had also received fraudulent use alerts from her credit card companies before. Both experiences made her anxious and worried, playing into the scammer’s fear tactics that this may be real.

In the end, the woman transferred $5,000 into the Bitcoin account, before eventually realizing it was a scam. She would later report the crime to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and the Smithville Police Department.

In retrospect there were many red flags that should have alerted the victim, but scammer often prey on older citizens that are not as tech savvy as younger generations. The scammers rely on trust of authority figures, as well as fear.

The first red flag would be the call from Amazon. Amazon would never call and ask for money to be transferred. One quick way to confirm if a call is real or fake is to simply hang up the phone, no matter how insistent the caller is not to, then call the company back through their official number.

Another red flag is Bitcoin. No official company or agency would ask for Bitcoin payment, or cash or money order. Again, simply hang up and call the official listed number if you are in doubt.

A security office, agent, or officer would never pressure you to stay on the phone with them, and not to confide in friends, family, or bank employees as to the nature of the withdraw of the funds.

When asked about the scam, DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray had some stern warnings for citizens. “Scammers will try to scare, threaten, and intimidate you into giving them your money or personal information. Don’t fall for their criminal tactics or you will lose your money.”

“People lose a lot of money to phone scams,” Sheriff Ray explained. “This seems to be the number one scam here in DeKalb County. I have seen where victims lose thousands upon thousands of dollars. Sometimes it’s their life savings.”

“Scammers have figured out countless ways to cheat you out of your money over the phone,” Sheriff ray continued. “In some scams, they act friendly and helpful. In others, they might threaten or try to scare you. One thing you can count on is that a phone scammer will try to get your money or your personal information to commit identity theft. Don’t give it to them. My best advice to you is to hang up on them and do not answer our phone if they call back.

Sheriff Ray said that scammers will try to entice the victim by telling them they have won prizes or money. A good rule of thumb is, if you haven’t entered a contest you shouldn’t be winning anything.

Another phone scam Sheriff Ray warns of is about grandparents. “There are two ways this scam can work,” Sheriff Ray said. “The first way is the scammer will tell the victim that their grandchild was in a car accident. The scammer poses as the grandchild and tells the victim they have been in an accident or they have been arrested and are needing bond money. The scammer even tries to disguise their voice as the grandchild’s voice and calling the victim ‘Grandpa or Grandma.’”

The scammer may also claim your grandchild has been involved in an accident, and that they are an attorney for their grandchild. They will claim they need to send money so they can get their grandchild out of jail. Again, the scams work on the fear and worry of the victim. With both of these scams, the scammer will tell you not to call your grandchild’s parents. 

“I would advise you that if you get a call like this, it is in your best interest to get a phone number from the scammer, hang up, and call the parents. Do not give them any information or money,” Sheriff Ray said.

The IRS scam is another popular trick, which usually occurs around tax time. “The scammer tells the victim they owe back taxes and needs to pay up or they are going to be arrested,” Sheriff Ray said. “Please do not fall for this scam. The IRS doesn’t work this way.”  

Yet another swindle is the warrant scam. This con is where the scammer will spoof their number to show on caller I.D. a different number than what they are calling from. The scammers can make the I.D. look like it is coming from an official source. “The scammer will tell the victim they have an active warrant and they need to pay it before they are arrested,” Ray said. “These scammers have spoofed numbers to look like law enforcement phone number I.D.’s. They have even used the Sheriff’s Department number here.”

Sheriff Ray when in doubt, hang up and call the official number.