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White County Sheriff Rick Kelley
Identity theft and Internet fraud schemes are the bane of modern existence.
White County Sheriff Rick Kelley and Cleveland Police Chief Jeff Shoemaker presented information on the most common fraud schemes and ways to avoid them Saturday as part of National Faith and Blue Weekend at the First Presbyterian Church of Cleveland.
“There were 15 million Americans who were victims of identity fraud in 2021,” Kelley said. “There was an estimated loss to Americans of $24 billion. There are thousand and thousands of different scams.”
Kelly said much of the identify fraud law enforcement officials see in White County involves credit cards.
“Credit cards numbers are the biggest thing we deal with that we get the most reports on,” he said. “Your information is out there. It's just a matter of time before somebody tries to use it.”
Thieves can gain access to your credit card information in a number of ways, including a hidden “skimmer” device attached to legitimate card readers at gas pumps or stores. Even going out to dinner at your favorite restaurant does not guarantee you total safety, as an unscrupulous wait person could secretly swipe your card information when you pay your bill.
“They can swipe it on a card skimmer (hidden in their pocket),” Kelley said. “It's a Bluetooth device that stores about 8,000 credit card numbers on it. You can get it for about $75 on Ebay.”
Stolen credit card numbers can sell for $10-$15 each on the Internet.
“On the dark web, people will buy a hundred credit card numbers at a time,” Kelley said. “Any time you go to an ATM machine or a gas pump, always pull on stuff and make sure nothing comes off, because all of (these skimmers) will come off pretty easily.”
He also advised using credit cards to pay for transactions instead of other forms electronic payment, particularly when shopping online.
“If somebody gets hold of your credit card number, the credit card company back-charges the vendors and issues you a new card,” Kelley said. “It's pretty simple. There aren't a whole lot of issues for the victim. I wouldn't use a debit card at all online.”
A different form of scam that has become more common is know as the “grand jury scam.”
“This is where they call you or email you, tell you that you've missed grand jury, and we're going tome out and arrest you unless you send some money,” Kelley said.
The crooks often do their research before calling you, and can use real names of sheriff's department employees or even spoof the sheriff's office phone number so that it appears you are getting a real phone call.
“Don't think the sheriff's office is going to come out and arrest you, that's not how a jury summons works,” Kelley said.
Despite wide-spread publicity about the so-called “lottery scam,” where crooks will contact you and claim you just hit the jackpot, they are still used because they are successful, Kelley pointed out.
“Ninety percent (of victims contacted) will hang up on them,” he said. “Five percent will sort of play along, but 5 percent are going to fall victim to it. You would be surprised at the number of folks that can fall for this.”
What's the best way to deal with the scammers?
“Just hang up,” Kelley said. “Forget the whole Southern hospitality thing. Just tell them you're not interested and hang up.”
Fake checks are sometimes used to scam unsuspecting victims, who will receive one in the mail that looks like a real check, complete with accurate routing number and water marks.
The victims will be asked to deposit the check in their account, send the scammer funds from their own account, and be told to keep the rest for their trouble.
Other common scams include the “IRS scam” and callers claiming to be a friend or family member in trouble or in jail in need of quick money.
The latter is not a random scam, Kelley said.
“They know who they're calling and they know some information about you. They're going to call you up and say you've either got a family member in jail or in another country or something. They will know particular information about you because they have researched you on the Internet and social media.”
A common computer scam is for a pop-up screen to suddenly appear telling you that you are infected with a virus and you need to call a certain phone number immediately or your computer will be locked down.
“Anytime you get any of these errors and it's asking you to call anything, just close out of it, unless you're a computer expert,” Kelley said. “Don't every call the phone number on them.”
Online dating sites are increasingly popular, and provide attractive targets for scammers, who will sometimes take weeks or months getting to know a victim on a personal level before asking for money.
“They will say they need it for a hospital bill or so they can come visit the victim in the United States,” Kelley said. “We've had a lot of folks in White County that have fallen victim to this.”
To report a suspected Internet scam, contact the White County Sheriff's Office, the Cleveland Police Department or your local law enforcement agency.