(Nov. 20, 2014) Multiple suspected cases of fraud caused Berlin law enforcement to issue a warning to area residents last week.
Police issued a press release on Wednesday, Nov. 12 after receiving at least two calls involving telephone and Internet scams on the same day.
“Because of that we wanted to get something out to let people know this was happening,” Lt. Jeffrey Lawson said. “Two of the same type of thing in a short amount of time – that’s a lot. And if we’re receiving an increased number, imagine the number of people who are not reporting it.”
Lawson said the elderly were frequent targets of fraud, and cases generally involved information gathered over the Internet.
The incidents were not limited to Berlin.
“It’s all over,” Lawson said. “It’s not just here, it’s everywhere. I think there’s a connection with certain things people may do business with where they have access to some information.”
“It’s not a big secret that marketing companies have access to this information. They learn how to target people with certain kinds of products – and that’s legitimate – but there’s also people that have the same capability that are using it for illegitimate purposes,” he said.
Lawson said one incident involved a Berlin resident receiving a secret shopper notice and a phony check for $5,000.
“They cut them a check, but the check is not actually any good,” he said. “By the time the check gets processed and they get the cash it’s too late.”
The other incident involved what Lawson called an “age-old” swindle.
“Somebody is selling a car, let’s say, on Craig’s List,” he said. “You’ll get a call from a guy that says he’s in Nigeria. He wants to buy that car and you’re selling it for $4,000. Obviously to get it to Nigeria it’s going to be have to be taken to a port and shipped to get it there, and that’s going to cost several thousand dollars to have it shipped – actually more than what the car is worth. So the person from Nigeria will tell the individual, ‘I’m going to send you a cashier’s check for $18,000. It costs $5,000 to ship it. You keep $4,000 and send the rest to me.’”
In these cases, according to Lawson, expired or spent cashier’s checks have been machine-altered to appear authentic.
“Most of the banks know to watch out for this now, so when you try to cash something like this they’ll tell you right away it’s not any good,” Lawson said. “But, there have been some bank employees who have made mistakes. They go ahead and cash them, they send this money off or wire it, and by that time they’re a victim.”
Unfamiliar buyers in foreign counties are often a red flag, but Lawson said many cases of fraud originate in the U.S.
“I know a case that I was familiar with a little while ago coming out of Las Vegas where a group of individuals rented an office space, they set up shop, they do their business and then they’re gone in two weeks,” he said. “So by the time law enforcement catches up and has enough to do a search warrant, when they go there the office is totally empty.”
In rare cases, the parties will contend they are a legitimate company even when facing state or federal prosecution.
“They’ll say they’re not promising the people anything, but what they do is they make it sound like they’re with, let’s say, Publisher’s Clearing House, but in fact they’re not – they’re not affiliated in any way whatsoever,” Lawson said.” That’s another scam we’re seeing where they contact someone, they want to know directions to their house and say they’re going to send somebody by with the roses and all that and they’re going to be getting a big award, but, ‘we need you to send $19.95 for a processing fee first.’”
Two weeks later, the victim will receive another call asking for more money.
“They’ll say, ‘oh, we still need another $39.95 to process this,’ and the people are gullible and they keep sending money in,” Lawson said.
In one instance, a Berlin resident sent tens of thousands of dollars to a fraudulent company.
“When somebody is that extreme, they’re not going to believe you no matter what you tell them,” Lawson said. “I’ve talked to people myself and said, ‘Hey, you do realize this is a scam?’ ‘No it’s not. I believe that I’m going to win this.’ It’s just that sad. It’s just so widespread it’s unreal.”
Lawson urged the public to remain alert, use caution and report any suspicious activity to the local police department.
“People need to be smart about this,” he said. “There’s hundreds of these things that go out every day in the mail in this region. Usually people open it up and think it’s junk and throw it in the trashcan, but maybe five out of those hundreds will say, ‘man, there’s something to this.’”
Police issued a press release on Wednesday, Nov. 12 after receiving at least two calls involving telephone and Internet scams on the same day.
“Because of that we wanted to get something out to let people know this was happening,” Lt. Jeffrey Lawson said. “Two of the same type of thing in a short amount of time – that’s a lot. And if we’re receiving an increased number, imagine the number of people who are not reporting it.”
Lawson said the elderly were frequent targets of fraud, and cases generally involved information gathered over the Internet.
The incidents were not limited to Berlin.
“It’s all over,” Lawson said. “It’s not just here, it’s everywhere. I think there’s a connection with certain things people may do business with where they have access to some information.”
“It’s not a big secret that marketing companies have access to this information. They learn how to target people with certain kinds of products – and that’s legitimate – but there’s also people that have the same capability that are using it for illegitimate purposes,” he said.
Lawson said one incident involved a Berlin resident receiving a secret shopper notice and a phony check for $5,000.
“They cut them a check, but the check is not actually any good,” he said. “By the time the check gets processed and they get the cash it’s too late.”
The other incident involved what Lawson called an “age-old” swindle.
“Somebody is selling a car, let’s say, on Craig’s List,” he said. “You’ll get a call from a guy that says he’s in Nigeria. He wants to buy that car and you’re selling it for $4,000. Obviously to get it to Nigeria it’s going to be have to be taken to a port and shipped to get it there, and that’s going to cost several thousand dollars to have it shipped – actually more than what the car is worth. So the person from Nigeria will tell the individual, ‘I’m going to send you a cashier’s check for $18,000. It costs $5,000 to ship it. You keep $4,000 and send the rest to me.’”
In these cases, according to Lawson, expired or spent cashier’s checks have been machine-altered to appear authentic.
“Most of the banks know to watch out for this now, so when you try to cash something like this they’ll tell you right away it’s not any good,” Lawson said. “But, there have been some bank employees who have made mistakes. They go ahead and cash them, they send this money off or wire it, and by that time they’re a victim.”
Unfamiliar buyers in foreign counties are often a red flag, but Lawson said many cases of fraud originate in the U.S.
“I know a case that I was familiar with a little while ago coming out of Las Vegas where a group of individuals rented an office space, they set up shop, they do their business and then they’re gone in two weeks,” he said. “So by the time law enforcement catches up and has enough to do a search warrant, when they go there the office is totally empty.”
In rare cases, the parties will contend they are a legitimate company even when facing state or federal prosecution.
“They’ll say they’re not promising the people anything, but what they do is they make it sound like they’re with, let’s say, Publisher’s Clearing House, but in fact they’re not – they’re not affiliated in any way whatsoever,” Lawson said.” That’s another scam we’re seeing where they contact someone, they want to know directions to their house and say they’re going to send somebody by with the roses and all that and they’re going to be getting a big award, but, ‘we need you to send $19.95 for a processing fee first.’”
Two weeks later, the victim will receive another call asking for more money.
“They’ll say, ‘oh, we still need another $39.95 to process this,’ and the people are gullible and they keep sending money in,” Lawson said.
In one instance, a Berlin resident sent tens of thousands of dollars to a fraudulent company.
“When somebody is that extreme, they’re not going to believe you no matter what you tell them,” Lawson said. “I’ve talked to people myself and said, ‘Hey, you do realize this is a scam?’ ‘No it’s not. I believe that I’m going to win this.’ It’s just that sad. It’s just so widespread it’s unreal.”
Lawson urged the public to remain alert, use caution and report any suspicious activity to the local police department.
“People need to be smart about this,” he said. “There’s hundreds of these things that go out every day in the mail in this region. Usually people open it up and think it’s junk and throw it in the trashcan, but maybe five out of those hundreds will say, ‘man, there’s something to this.’”