Watch your money: Fraud cases are up
By
WINK News
Story Created:
Oct 8, 2008 at 5:15 PM EST
Story Updated:
Oct 9, 2008 at 4:40 PM EST
LEE COUNTY, Fla. - The Lee County Sheriff's Office Economic Crimes Unit is reporting a 40% increase in fraud cases compared to the same time last year.
A strained economy could be to blame, says Stacey Payne, Community Relations Manager with LCSO. She tells WINK News it could get worse.
Lee County residents are losing millions of dollars each year to con-artists, but you don't have to fall victim.
The Sheriff's Office warns, be careful with your money.
Recently, a Lee County woman was scammed out of hundreds of dollars after a fraud pulled at her heart strings.
It's the so-called, "Your grandchildren need help scam" and it's nothing new in Southwest Florida.
"They're telling them I'm visiting Canada or I've been in a fight...or the latest one I've heard is, I went fishing and I didn't know I needed a license and now I'm in jail and I need to pay my fine and can you wire me money," explained Payne.
The grandparent does half the work for the scammer by filling in the name of their grandchild.
You would think most grandparents would know the sound of their grandchild's voice, but the scammers have that part covered too.
"They'll even go as far as to say, I may sound a little funny, I've got a cold," said Payne, "Who wouldn't want to help their grandchild?"
The same old scams are out there, the con-artists are just finding new ways to rip you off according to Payne.
Other scams circulating Lee County are the sweepstakes scams where you are told you've won a lot of money, they just need you to send a check first.
Craigslist is another place people are being parted from their money by scammers. If you're offered a check for more than what you're selling your item for, and then asked to send the rest of the cash back, don't do it!
The check will often come back as a fake before the bank even realizes it, and you are out the cash.
The work at home and the secret shopper scams also continue to be a problem in Southwest Florida according to the Sheriff's Office.
If you are approached with an offer that sounds too good to be true, or if you feel uncomfortable about a financial situation, you can call the Lee County Sheriff's Office Fraud Line at 239-477-1242.
Monday, Oct 13 at 2:06 PM LCSO Fraud Line wrote ...
The best way we have discovered to stop these phone calls, besides changing your number, is to not answer any calls from them. After a while they will give up and move on to someone else.
Friday, Oct 10 at 4:45 AM Bob wrote ...
My wife has been harrassed for the past 4 months by a man claiming that her son in Japan owes a bundle of money.The scammers are looking for his credit info. She finally ran a check on the in-coming phone number through the web, and it came back as a scam. Now we could use some help in stopping these calls. This brazen S.O.B. won't stop calling, even after she told him she's aware of his game.
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