SCAMS AND SWINDLES
Confidence crimes - Scams and Swindles - are very different from violent crimes and rely upon psychology rather than force to control victims' behavior. Swindlers use no weapons, rarely threaten to physically harm their victims, and do not rely on force to compel their victims to do anything. Con artists' frauds take place "inside" the minds of victims where they create mental images of wealth or fabulous prizes that are, in reality, only figments of imagination. Con artists succeed when their persuasive techniques cause victims to lose control of their emotions, then willingly do as the con artist urges, even if these actions are irrational and contrary to their normal behavior patterns. The following are a few old, common, and unusual swindles and scams: FINANCIAL OR MATERIAL EXPLOITATION OF THE ELDERLY Is defined as the illegal or improper use of an elder's funds, property, or assets. The elderly are also primary targets of utility burglaries, scams, and swindles. If an elder in your family has a caretaker or you are considering providing one, you should check the rating of the caretaker's agency, and as a precaution, check the caretaker's criminal record. Signs of financial or material exploitation of the elderly include, but are not limited to, unexplained withdrawals of money from their bank account, discovery of forged transactions, payments for unnecessary services, mail diversion, stolen possessions, new credit accounts, unexplained transfer of assets, unpaid bills, and unusual purchases. Learn more www.dfps.state.tx.us FALSE COLLECTION AGENCIES - Victim receives a delinquent bill notice by phone, mail, or email from a collection agency. The victim will be asked to send money for some type of delinquent account. The con artist may threaten to immediately report the bill to a credit bureau. Victims should obtain as much information about the delinquent bill and the name of the person that contacted them. The victim should then call the company to learn if there is a delinquent account in their name and to learn if their identity has been used to obtain the account. If there is not a delinquent account, the victim should contact their local police agency to report the incident. There are rare reports of victims being contacted by phone - the caller completely identifies the victim, their address, date of birth, social security number, bank, etc. The caller then threatens to drain the victim's accounts if the victim does not immediately wire them money. The victim should write down the number on the caller ID, (probably fake), hang up, and notify their bank and obtain an incident report from their police agency. ASSUMING THE IDENTITY OF A COMPANY? This scam usually involves several con artists and requires the victim to invest $20,000 or more . The victim may be pitched on an oil and gas company investment. The con artist will pitch the victim in person, appear professional, provide a business card, telephone numbers, company documentation, profit projections, and so on. The victim may be prudent and check the company online, call the company using the con artist's documentation, or call the Better Business Bureau. The company will actually exist. The phone numbers the victim calls are the disposable cell phone numbers provided to him by the con artists on the altered company documents. Each con artist will answer and pose as a company employee and a automated voice system may be utilized to further convince the victim. The victims will eventually follow the con artists' guidelines to make the investment and wire money from bank to bank, a P. O. Box, or provide cash depending on the legitimate nature of the investment. Once the money is received, all contact with the con artists will cease. This scam is difficult to detect. The victim probably could have avoided this scam by obtaining the phone number of the company in a telephone directory, calling the company, and asking to speak directly to the names that were provided to him by the con artists. NIGERIAN SCAMS Variations of Nigerian scams are endless. A popular scam occurs when the victim reads an email from a person asking for help with a relative who has a large some of money earned through illegal means. The relative may have died and the person in charge wishes to give the money to charity but requires a foreigner to help him conduct the work. The requirement is that the victim have a bank account from where the transaction can take place or the victim may be asked to assist with placing a large sum of money in an overseas bank account. When the victim deposits any of their money in an account or provides their account information, the money disappears. Use of phone numbers, email accounts, unearned praise, and a link to a news article related to the scam may be used to further convince the victim. The best way to keep away from such scams is to delete the email and inform a law enforcement agency. Common sense should prevail - how likely would some oppressed wealthy foreigner be to contact you through random email offering a ludicrous sum of money? Another simple scam involves an unsolicited email convincing the victim that he or she will receive an envelope containing travelers checks or money orders that the victim can cash at their bank. The sender will claim he is unable to cash the travelers checks in his country for some 'illegitimate' reason and request that the victim cash the checks, keep a portion of the money, and send a large portion of the remaining money back to the sender. The counterfeit travelers checks are sent to the victim via federal express or another carrier. The travelers checks appear real but lack any security features. Denominations are usually $100/$500 and the total value of the traveler's checks range from $2000-$9000. The victim then takes the checks to their bank where they have an account. The bank teller may not question the transaction because the victim banks there, The teller cashes the travelers checks. The victims usually realize they now have $3000 and will not send the money back to the individual. The victims will soon receive a call from the bank or a police officer informing them that they cashed counterfeit checks and will be charged with the criminal offense. Some victims actually send 80 percent of the money back to Nigeria and keep 20 percent because the sender promises to send more checks. In this case, the banks will probably hold the victim liable for the money. If you receive an offer via email from someone claiming to need your help getting money out of Nigeria or any country - forward it to IC3 at www.ic3.gov
the victim with an altered or counterfeited lottery ticket or scratch off with winnings ranging from $100, $200,000 to millions. The con artist with the ticket will claim to be an illegal immigrant or a wanted person. The con artist may just sell a smaller denomination winning ticket to the victim on the spot for a less amount. More elaborate scams involve a second con artist who walks up on the conversation and confronts the legitimacy of the ticket with the con artist holding the ticket. The second con artist will usually call a number on the ticket to verify it and in some cases be speaking with the third con artist that the victim will never see. An agreement for up front earnest money (ranging from $1000 to $5000) is made between the second con artist and the victim. The money is placed in an envelope or bags and exchanged. The second con artist disguises his money with tens or twenty dollar bills wrapped around paper or uses counterfeited bills. The three of you may have to drive to Lottery headquarters. En route one of the con artist will get sick or have to use the restroom at a gas station. The third con artist that was following you all in another vehicle will pick up the first two con artists as they slip away from you at the gas station. The victim will be left holding a bag of counterfeit fake rolls or a small amount of money. RECEIVED NOTICE BY MAIL OR EMAIL THAT MONEY IS OWED TO YOU This scam tries to convince a victim that for a fee they will direct the victim to the public listing where their money is located. The victim calls the number and may be met by the con artist. The con artist provides the victim with documentation and instructions to locate their money. The victim pays the fee. The con artist may drive the victim to get their money and have to stop en route to use the restroom or get sick. The con artist then disappears or is picked up by another con artist. Note: There actually are companies that check local listings for money owed to people. These companies are legit but will require a fee to direct you. Verify the name of the company and person contacting you using your telephone directory or check it online. Check public listings yourself and have a friend or relative accompany you during the transaction if you really believe money is owed to you.
funded Internet telerelay service for deaf/hard of hearing/speech disabled individuals. The scam artist calls various businesses, attempting to purchase items with stolen or fraudulent credit cards. Oftentimes, individuals are targeted as well, most whom have advertised a product or service online. Typically, the scam artist will place several calls using a Relay Operator. Calling to businesses or private parties, the scam artist will inquire about merchandise/services offered, and then attempt to purchase the merchandise. The scam artist then proceeds to ask the potential victim for an e-mail address so that he can contact the victim to proceed with the closing of the fraudulent transaction. The scam artist proceeds to send the victim a counterfeit check or money order with instructions requiring that it be cashed, and the excess funds be sent back to the scam artist. When it is determined by authorities that the money order is counterfeit, the victim is usually arrested and charged with various offenses relating to the scam.
"lady" or "man" who has attractive pictures posted, generally stolen from online portfolios of modeling agencies. The person claims to be interested in coming to visit the victim, but needs some cash up front in order to book the plane, hotel room, and other expenses. As with other variants, money always seems to travel via instant cash wire transferring services, and the lady or man always seems to come up with additional reasons for requesting more funds.
convinced that he or she helping someone overseas collect "debts" from corporate clients. Large checks stolen from businesses are mailed to the victim. The checks are altered to reflect the victim's name, and the victim is then instructed to cash them and transfer all but a percentage to the con artist. The checks are often completely genuine, except the "pay to" information is expertly changed. This exposes the victim to enormous debt when the bank reclaims the money from his or her account, and may also expose the victim to criminal charges for money laundering.
state they need to check a system or your meters. Elderly victims are generally targeted with this diversion scam. The impostors wear convincing uniforms and have convincing identifications. Once inside the victim's home, one impostor may ask to use the victim's restroom causing a separation. The impostors may perform some type of fake repair and charge the victim , and during the repair, the victim is diverted while the impostors search for currency or jewelry. The vehicles used by these impostors are usually rental cars. In some cases, the suspects approach the victims as police officers who indicate they are part of a "Neighborhood Watch" program. They will point out ways to make improvements and eventually ask the victim where they hide their valuables. A distraction will occur and the theft will be committed. To avoid this, the victim should verify if they are impostors and contact the company or agency that the impostors claim to represent using telephone directory numbers and not the phone numbers provided by the impostors. Don't allow strangers in your home.
Officials", "Secret Service Agents", or "Police Officers". In some cases, the victim is approached in the parking lot outside the bank. The suspects appear very professional, present credentials/badges, normally 55 years old or older, and are very convincing. The victim is asked to assist them and make a money withdrawal from a dishonest bank employee passing counterfeit currency. The victim is then asked to turn over the withdrawn money to the fake bank officials or secret service agents as supposed evidence. They then provide the victim with a business card and disappear. This con scheme is practiced by a highly efficient team of traveling criminals. HOME REPAIR SWINDLES Con artists traveling in teams will canvass older neighborhoods looking for homes in need of minor repairs and meet their victims by door-to-door contacts. Offer the victim, elderly citizens, a reasonable price for the job to gain the victim's confidence. During the job, a hazardous situation is discovered. It may be a roof repair, wiring repair, or fire hazard. The victim is led to believe the repairs need to be made immediately. Since there is no hazardous situation to begin with, the repairs will be non-existent or of little benefit to the victim. WAR DIALERS Most of us receive telemarketing messages on our home telephone message recorder for an unbelieveable offer for a new satellite system, service, or any new product. Messages may inform victms that an existing account has been compromised and must be updated for security reasons. Victims may call these numbers and be required by an automated system to enter their account information or credit card numbers. War dialers are devices integrated with computer technology and programmed to call thousands of numbers (listed or unlisted). This identity theft method requires little capital to implement and is an easy way to steal your account numbers. Be wary responding to these offers especially if they require you to enter any credit card numbers or your personal information. Verify the offers or the company. DISTRACTIONS This is actually theft. Victims are females shopping in a grocery store. The victim is distracted by the suspect with a conversation. The other suspect then simply walks by and removes the victim's wallet from her purse. Drains the victim's debit account or "maxes' her credit cards before she is done shopping. Another more professional approach takes place on crowded buses, subway trains, lines, or escalators. The suspect is professionally dressed carrying a plastic cover over a clothing garment from a dry cleaner. The suspect spots a female carrying a purse that may or may not be open. The suspect gets close behind the victim and during the ride, the suspect extends the garment over the victim's purse and simply removes her wallet. Most victims are unaware they are victims until they get home or make another purchase. Many victims assume they lost their wallet and do not report this offense.
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