Part I: The Problem
He stood in line at the grocery store, confused and frightened, a phone gripped in one hand and a $500 gift card in the other. The cashier couldn’t help but notice. What she didn’t know was this man had been on the phone with a scammer for over two hours as he was pressured and threatened into purchasing gift cards and sending the numbers to the grifter on the other end of the line.
Victims have lost tens of thousands of dollars to this scam and others, and it’s happening as much in Logan County as anywhere. Which means the question is no longer if you’ll be the victim of a scam but when.
A variety of phone, email and text scams continue to be a rampant problem and only seem to increase as the criminals figure out new ways to separate people from their money. It’s such a widespread problem, local banks and police departments have staff who focus on investigating, stopping and even preventing these incidents.
With this in mind, Citizens Federal Savings and Loan, Bellefontaine, joined with three law enforcement offices and one IT specialist to give a limited-audience presentation Wednesday night, April 6, on recognizing and avoiding scams.
Overall, the news wasn’t good. Most if not all of our information is already out there on what is known as the Dark Web—hidden internet sites accessed only through a specialized website browser. Grabbing phone numbers and email addresses is the easy part as they are bought and sold on the Dark Web.
Scammers have two targets—your money and/or your identity. And they have ways to get both.
“Your medical records are the most valuable bit of information thieves try to get,” Robert Reynolds, IT director at Mary Rutan Hospital, said. “They want to steal your ID to try to sell it.”
The variety of scams continues to evolve and grow, and, according to Bellefontaine Police Chief Brandon Standley, so does the number of “brilliant scammers.” Often, it’s nothing more than a guy in a small office with a desk, a chair and a robo-dialer, which makes constant calls until one gets answered.
Besides the gift card scam, another one that pops up often in this area is called The Sweetheart Scam. It’s usually a man targeting a single woman. He romances her, claiming he’s “in love” before asking for financial “help.” Women have lost thousands of dollars this way.
But the most egregious and common scam is the grandparents one. “They know the names of your grandkids,” Standley said. “They tell you they need money to get out of jail, then end with ‘don’t tell Mom and Dad.’”
“They prey on the kind, older generation who wants to help,” added Detective Dwight Salyer. “And if you’re alone, they know you want to talk.”
For Part 2, Solutions, see Monday’s Examiner.