One of the great truisms in life is that nothing is guaranteed except for death and taxes.
According to detectives with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, a lesser known but no less true adage is that however hard one person may be working to make an honest dollar, another person is out there working just as hard to figure out a way to steal it.
According to LCSO records, in 2022 scams and frauds accounted for $283,000 stolen from Lincoln County residents. Between January and October 2023, Lincoln County residents had been taken for at least $176,000.
According to LCSO Lt. Michael Murphy, those figures only account for what’s been reported. The true total is almost certainly much, much higher. One common reaction to being fooled for money is embarrassment. Nobody wants to be made a fool of, a fact that works in the fraudsters’ favor.
However, LCSO detectives say falling victim to a scam is nothing to be ashamed of. People from all walks of life have been taken in by all kinds of scams, and more than a few for quite a bit of money. Finding susceptibility in a person’s makeup is what scammers do and many of them do it like a day job, the same way any law-abiding citizen approaches their profession.
Whether by email, text, or telephone, scammers have more ways than ever to reach potential victims and they are increasingly sophisticated about how they do so. Readily available technology allows criminals on the other side of the world to appear like they are calling from a local number. Easily accessible information online makes it easy to acquire the names, job titles, and occasionally badge numbers of government officials.
Innocuous texts or official-looking emails inviting a response can easily compromise a phone or computer allowing an unknown party access to confidential financial information.
Scams take almost as many forms as there are ways to do business. A bad actor might buy something with an overly large check, asking for the balance in cash, or they might just offer to pay extra for the seller’s trouble and make off with the goods.
There are rental scams in which the operators use an actual residence to advertise for rent, or even real estate for sale. In such cases the victims might not know they have been taken until they show up on site, bags in hand.
However it happens, scams work by exploiting human nature, preying on the desire to help or avoid confrontations and the fear of missing an opportunity or the fear of getting into trouble.
According to Murphy, the first thing people can do to protect themselves is to slow down, think about the situation being presented to them, and then, before taking any other action, verify the information they are presented with is true and accurate.
Common scams involve news the potential victim has just won a lottery or qualified for a windfall. Often the pitch is made with a deadline. The victim is told they need to make a payment quickly in order to secure their winnings.
According to Murphy, the pressure to act immediately is a big red flag. The lottery scam is a good example of when slowing down and thinking things through pays off.
“You never have to pay to win something,” Murphy said. “There is no such thing as processing fees. The only thing you have to pay when you get winnings like that is Uncle Sam. You have got to pay your taxes, and when you think about it, did you enter that lottery? How did you win it if you didn’t enter it?”
Another common tactic is threatening legal trouble. A relative calls from out of town or even a foreign jail. They have been arrested for some reason and need bail or a fine to be paid immediately. Another variant involves a caller posing as a law enforcement officer or an IRS agent and accusing the victim of some violation, threatening arrest, and then offering to settle the issue with a fine, paid over the phone, frequently with gift cards.
Any variety of this kind of call is almost certainly bogus, according to LCSO detectives.
Law enforcement isn’t going to call and threaten imminent legal action over the phone. If they really need your attention, they will come to your house, in person, identification in hand, more than likely arriving in a clearly identifiable vehicle they park in your driveway.
“If they’re saying they’re the police, OK,” Murphy said. “The police are easy to get ahold of. Stop communicating. Call the police. Say ‘Hey I got this number. This is what they want.’ More than likely, in fact I’d say every time, the police are going to say that is a scam.”
Another truism, according to LCSO detectives is that anything that sounds too good to be true almost certainly is. Always, according to Murphy, slow down, think, and verify.
Anyone who suspects they may have been involved in a scam should call their local law enforcement agency. The LCSO can be reached at 882-7332.
