Identifying fraud:The sneaky signs of impostor scams

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

There are phone calls that claim you’ve missed jury duty, your grandchild is incarcerated or you’ve withheld money that the Internal Revenue Service is entitled to collect.

The voice on the phone line knows your name, potentially knows more of your personal information and gives you a solution: pay now.

Al Perales, an investigator with the Iowa Attorney General’s office, is warning Iowans not to trust emotionally fraught phone calls. He is touring the state to warn residents of impostor scams — scams in which the caller tries to impersonate someone.

“These situations are so strong, victims get tunnel vision,” Perales warned during his appearance last week at the Charles City Public Library. “They work. These scams can come to you in all shapes and sizes — they can come through a knock on the door, they can come through the mail, they can come through the phone.”

The majority of scams reported to the Charles City Police Department occur over the phone, Captain Brandon Franke told the Press.

“They’ll call anybody. I get phone calls even on my cellphone all the time,” Franke said. “If I don’t know the number, I hang up. If it’s someone legitimate they’ll leave a voicemail and you can call them back. But don’t put yourself in the position of getting caught up in a scam.”

Most of the scams reported to the police have been the IRS scam or “grandparents scam,” when callers identify as the recipient’s grandchild and ask for money, he said.

Scammers use made-up scenarios to play off of the excitement, fear or empathy their victims respond with, Perales said.

“I’m seeing more and more of older Iowans being involved in romance online,” Perales said. “Meanwhile, there’s all these red flags that are going off, but unfortunately people don’t pay attention to them, because all they’re looking for is the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Older Iowans who start relationships online may find themselves sending money internationally, Perales said. In one case he worked with, a woman sent a total of $125,000 to a man she believed lived in Nairobi. Through a theft clause in her homeowner’s insurance she received about $80,000 back.

Midwestern states like Iowa are particular targets of scammers, Perales said. More than 80 percent of financial wealth and more than 50 percent of discretionary income is owned by people age 50 or older.

“They see our state as prime, fertile ground,” he said.

Franke said it’s difficult for a local police department to trace and close a scam case.

“I always tell people never to give out their personal information, never cash checks and send money back to them because that’s a scam. You end up paying their bank for the check you cashed,” Franke said.

Perales warned residents to always independently verify a caller’s identity before giving out personal information. Caller IDs can be spoofed by scammers to show a local phone number, no matter where the scammer is actually calling from.

Sometimes, scammers don’t have that much information about who they contact — nothing more than a name and an age, Perales said. Victims may receive calls that their computer is infected with a virus, and that the caller needs to remotely access the computer to fix it — even if some of the victims don’t own a computer.

“They don’t even have to do any homework. They just call you — ‘Grandma? Grandpa?’ — and the grandparent responds, ‘Suzy? Bobby?'” Perales said. “Right then and there, the scammer has a connection.”

“They’re calling people randomly,” he added. “Check locally. Check with a family member.”

Warning signs to recognize a scam include threats and a plea to keep the situation quiet.

Franke suggests internet users keep personal information, like email addresses, private on social networks like Facebook. When residents receive a questionable email, try to identify who sent the message. Scammers will typically request victims send a smaller sum of money before making larger requests.

“Do your own investigations before you give any information out, give any money out. If you just aren’t sure … always let us know,” Franke said.

“(The IRS) would never tell you ‘you need to pay now, or you’re going to get arrested,'” Perales said. “All these scams, they’ll tell you not to tell anybody … ‘You’ve won the lotto, but don’t tell anybody’ … The grandparents scam, ‘Don’t tell Mom. Don’t tell Dad.”

Scammers always ask for quick action, Perales added, to solve the “situation” today.

Perales recommends residents take time once a month to go through all banking and credit card statements and look for charges they did not make to those accounts. He also suggested consumers make all online purchases with a credit card, which has more protection than a debit card.

“Resist the pressure to act now,” he added. “If there’s a really great deal, it’ll be there tomorrow.”