State police are investigating multiple recent incidents where people in Columbia and Greene counties have been scammed out of thousands of dollars.
In one recent case in Chatham, the victims left $12,000 outside their home to be picked up by a “courier,” said Aaron Hicks, public information officer for state police Troop K.
Police could not comment on whether they were able to recover some or all of the money, because the investigation remains ongoing, Hicks said.
The thefts are being called the “Grandparents Scam.” It usually involves someone calling the victim and claiming that someone’s grandchild or other relative has been arrested and a bail bondsman needs to be paid immediately. In some cases an amount can be as high as $30,000, Hicks said.
A separate case involved payments of cash that were to be sent through the mail hidden inside old magazines.
Another prevalent scam attempts to convince the victim that a relative was involved in a serious accident and money is needed for medical payments, Hicks said.
The callers ask for large sums of money, to be transferred in unusual ways, absent face-to-face interaction. Once the thieves have extracted money, they may also call back and try to get more, Hicks said.
Since the payments are often cash sent, cash left or gift card codes provided over the phone, police rarely have any leads in the cases, Hicks said.
The phone numbers used to commit these crimes are often masked by fake phone number generators and again give little or nothing to go on, Hicks said.
Gift card codes can be used to purchase new cards, making them immediately laundered. Large department stores is where the scammers usually buy the new cards, because they have cameras that are always too high and of poor quality. Even if police are able to get a picture of a face, making a match of that person is often difficult, as these thieves are part of a network that covers the entire country, Hicks said.
In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission received 24,545 complaints of individuals impersonating family members and friends, up from 20,234 in 2019. New Yorkers alone filed 1,359 complaints in 2020.
State police have developed a list of tips that may prevent someone from becoming the victim of a phone scam.
n Take a pause. Scammers always create a sense of urgency to prey on victims’ emotions and their love for family members.
n Verify any supposed emergency by calling friends and family before sending money. This is especially important if a potential victim has been warned not to do so.
n A grandparent may think they would know whether they were speaking to their own grandchild or to an imposter, but it is easy to be fooled. The caller may be crying, or the background may be noisy or the caller may claim the connection is bad.
n If the caller purports to be a bail bondsman, ask where the relative is being held and contact the facility directly. Grandparents can also call their local police department, where officers may be able to call the jail and confirm the story.
n Be suspicious of anyone who calls unexpectedly asking to be sent money.
n Never send cash through the mail.
n Never purchase pre-paid debit cards or gift cards for the purpose of transferring money.
n Develop a secret code or password with family members that can be used to verify the identity of family members over the phone.
n Ask a question that only the real grandchild would know the answer to, such as “What was the name of your first pet?”
n Set Facebook and other social media settings to private to limit the information available to scammers, such as the name of grandchildren.
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December 24, 2021 at 06:05PM
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'Grandparents scam' easy to plan, tough to solve | NY State | hudsonvalley360.com - Hudson Valley 360
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