Chief Birbeck talks fraud with seniors
It may be hard to believe that international scams reach into small towns but Police Chief Dan Birbeck warned that the Olney Police Department has interrupted overseas scams that could have cost Olney residents a lot of money.
At a recent talk at the Senior Cub Center, Chief Birbeck said scammers target seniors and people on online dating services with sophisticated cons that play on fear or loneliness.
“There are literally hundreds of scams to watch out for so never fall for the high-pressure tactics,” he said. “Always hang up and find a ‘trusted number’ to call back, whether at the bank, a government entity such as the IRS, or a jail. If it’s a love interest online, buyer beware. If they are asking for money that is a huge red flag.”
Chief Birbeck personally busted up a scam when an Olney woman came into the police station to check whether a man asking her to wire money to clear up a supposed tax debt was legitimate.
“I was telling her, this is a scam. Don’t engage with them anymore,” he said. “And the phone rang while she was in the lobby and it was the scammer.”
The chief asked to talk to the man. “He’s telling me, ‘I’m with the IRS, and there’s going to be a warrant for her arrest.’ And I said, ‘You’re talking to the police chief. I don’t think so.’” The scammer finally admitted to the attempted fraud but bragged that he’d never get caught “because they’re from overseas,” Chief Birbeck said. “He [said], ‘I’ve always wanted to talk to a police officer.”
In another case, an Olney resident wired a large amount of money offshore after being conned into believing that her bank had accidentally deposited someone else’s funds into her bank account, Chief Birbeck said.
“She transfers that money to them, and that pending deposit vaporizes because it’s not a true deposit,” he said. The scammers also “cloned” the Wells Fargo customer service number so that it appeared on her call display as the same as the number on the back of her credit card, he said.
Olney Police worked with the U.S. Secret Service and stopped the deposits from clearing the foreign bank, he said.
In a third case, a person sent thousands of dollars to a scammer posing as an overseas love interest who asked for help paying for a U.S. visa. “Not only do they financially get devastated, but their hearts are broken
Another common con involves scammers who call grandparents posing as their grandchildren and claiming to be in a crisis situation and urgently needing money. The Federal Communications Commission details the scam at this link: https:// www.fcc.gov/watch-outgrandparent- scams “Grandparents have a hard time saying no to their grandparents, which is something scammers know all too well,” he said. “Scammers who gain access to consumers’ personal information - by mining social media or purchasing data from cyber thieves - are creating storylines to prey on the fears of grandparents.”
Scammers also send emails with links to malware that allows them to control their victims’ computers, giving them access to financial information and accounts but also to personal information that can be used for blackmail.
“They tell you that they have video of you watching pornography and that they have access to your Facebook account and if you don’t send them money they’re going to distribute it to all your family members,” Chief Birbeck said. To stay ahead of scammers, Chief Birbeck said: Don’t give out personal information to anyone who calls purporting to be from a government agency or credit card company. Hang up and verify the phone number, then call back and ask if there is an open case in your name. “In Texas, debt is not criminalized. If you owe money to somebody, they’re not going to arrest you for that.”
Never buy a debit card or gift card to pay off a supposed debt. “That is fraud 100 percent of the time.”
Be wary of clicking on links in emails. “You can hover your cursor over links and pull a preview window up where the link is taking you.”
He also invited the public to call OPD if they suspect they are being scammed. “We can vet what’s going on and potentially help,” he said.