Scam Protection
The rapid acceleration of new technologies and ways to communicate across our world has greatly enhanced our ability to access an innumerable amount of information. While this has been beneficial for society as a whole, scammers have found this advancement easy enough to exploit and steal more than 3.4 billion dollars from Americans last year alone. Scammers, who are primarily based overseas and outside of the jurisdiction and enforcement arm of the United States of America, are utilizing the world web, email, phones, and your personal information obtained through online databases to take your money.
Scammers often pose as a well-known and commonly used entity such as your bank, law enforcement, the IRS, Geek Squad, Amazon, etc in order to provide an air of safety and security in discussing and providing your personal information over the phone. Oftentimes, the requests for payment evolve into the purchasing of gift cards or other forms of virtual currency such as Bitcoin. The most affected members of our community are people aged over 60.
We would like to protect our community through the power of information. If you face a situation in which an individual pressures you over the phone in providing payment in the form of gift cards or virtual currency, hang-up immediately. Furthermore, scammers are very good at their job and can sound quite convincing.
• At no time will an organization “accidentally” send you to much money and ask for repayment.
• At no time will an organization be able to ascertain the extent of “hacked” material, malware, or viruses while speaking with them over the phone and after giving them control of your computer.
• At no time will law enforcement request payment in order to get rid of an arrest warrant.
If you have any questions or concerns, or if something does not feel right, hang up and contact the Travelers Rest Police Department at 864-834-9029.
Other Resources
The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation