They say that “timing is everything,” and recently in a local convenience store, a member of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office found himself in the perfect position to stop a crime while it was in progress. On this day, we spoke with Lt. Mike Layne, a Community Affairs and Secondary Employment Officer, whose timely visit to that store prevented one local lady from losing a significant amount of money. Layne shared that he was leaving the convenience store when he noticed a lady standing in front of a cryptocurrency machine. She caught his attention because she seemed to be receiving instructions via phone from a male as she entered information into the machine. Typically, someone using one of these machines is familiar with its operation and would not require such instruction, so Lt. Layne moved closer and asked the lady if everything was all right. She muted her phone and told the Lt. that the person on the other end of the call was helping her to transfer her money into a safe account because someone was trying to steal it.
“I told her to hang up the phone immediately, but she unmuted it instead. The guy on the other end heard me speaking to her and told her to ignore me because I was lying to her and trying to make her lose her money. I advised the gentleman that I was a law enforcement officer and that I was aware of his scam. He seemed unfazed by my presence and kept telling the lady to put her cash into the machine and transfer it to a new account,” shared Layne.
The potential victim went on to explain that she had received a call from one of her utility companies advising her that fraudulent activity had been noted on her account. The alleged representative even went so far as to transfer the call to a (fake) representative from her bank, who instructed her to immediately go to her bank, remove a large amount of cash, and refuse to answer questions at the bank because the bank would try to steal the money from her. Instilling a sense of fear and urgency, the fake representative advised that the woman would then need to go to an address provided (the convenience store), and place her money into a crypto-currency account that would be untouchable by the bank.
Layne continued, “These folks had worked her up pretty good, so I had to convince her that her money was safe—it was in her hand. She finally hung up, and it began to sink in that she had been scammed. I reminded her that if the money had been removed from her account in a fraudulent manner, it would not have still been in the account when she arrived at the bank. Of course, she felt embarrassed that she had fallen for this scam, but she also felt relieved because that money would have been gone forever the moment she placed it into the Cryptocurrency machine. Before the phone call was over, they would have transferred it through numerous untraceable accounts using servers hidden from detection.”
Layne advised that there are a number of scams being attempted in our community, and they often target older citizens who might not be as tech-savvy as others. “It’s not always cryptocurrency scams. Often, they will scare a victim into purchasing gift cards or a store card that is technically a bank account. The moment they make the purchase, funds get transferred and they are nearly impossible to recapture,” said Layne.
In fact, one local IT expert shared that cyber-based scams are becoming more creative and chaotic. “I had two clients who were victimized using their own computers. Both of them had computers that suddenly sounded an alarm and presented a screen stating that the computer was under attack and the user needed to call a number that was supposed to connect them to a Microsoft® representative,” shared the technician, who opted to not be named in this article. “In both cases, the person was an older member of the community. Both were in another area of the house when they heard the alarm on the computer, and panicked when they saw the message. Both of them made the call; one became suspicious and hung up, and the other provided credit card information in an attempt to “unlock” the computer. Neither of them had been hacked—it was just what is often referred to as a “hook” webpage that they had landed on accidentally. Unfortunately, the individual who provided the payment information also allowed the fake representative to remotely access their computer and search for information. I reminded them both that Microsoft® will never reach out to anyone. They wouldn’t know or care that you’ve been hacked—it’s just not their wheelhouse.”
When asked how to avoid becoming a victim of one of these scams, Lt. Layne offered some sage advice. “First, we’ve taken a proactive step by visiting several of our local vendors who have cryptocurrency machines in their business. We’ve educated them to be aware of potential scams. There are warning labels on these machines reminding people that payments to these machines are non-refundable. We want the community to only utilize these machines if they fully understand the implications of depositing money into them. We also want people to understand how things work when it comes to law enforcement. If a caller claims to be a deputy, has a warrant for you or a loved one, and requests immediate payment to avoid arrest, hang up. We don’t do that. Don’t trust your caller ID for those types of calls. There are spoof apps out there that allow the caller to pretend they are from a law enforcement agency, a banking institution, or even the White House. If you’re not sure, hang up and call a known number to verify the caller. Don’t allow yourself to be scared into acting by some misplaced sense of urgency. If you’re not sure and need some help, please call the Sheriff’s Office at our non-emergency number 904-264-6512.”