| RPV residents have been inundated by requests for donation from organizations calling themselves COPS, Police Expo, South Bay Police and Firefighters, Fireman’s Fund, Widows and Orphans of Police and Firefighters, The Sheriff’s Association, Police and Firefighters Charity Baseball and Football games, Police Auxiliary Fund, Association of Disabled Firefighters, Funds for Slain Deputies, and other similarly named organizations. Some may represent that they are collecting for rape clinics, child abuse programs or other seemingly legitimate purposes. Some of these may be either marginal operators who keep most of the donations for themselves, or are outright frauds. None of them are associated with our own Sheriff or Fire Departments. See the accompanying article in this issue of Neighborhood Watchword. Neither the County Fire Department or Sheriff’s Department, who serve our community, solicit donations by phone. If the organization cannot show you a permit from the City to solicit, cannot give you a non-profit ID number issued by the IRS, or tells you they want to pick up the donation at your house, you are probably being solicited by a fraudulent charity. If we hear of our Sheriff or Fire Dept. making charitable solicitations, we will keep you informed.
Scamsters are also taking advantage of the New York disaster to request donations for various police and fire charities. Many of these are sent by e-mail, and of course the money received only goes into the scamsters pocket. These kinds of fraud appear after almost any kind of major disaster. If you wish to help the victims with a donation, use the established charitable organizations, many of which have people already at the scene and know what is needed.
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Confidence Games
There is no end to the inventiveness of scam artists, and it is, therefore, impossible to describe all of the scams that have been perpetrated locally. In a confidence game, the perpetrators seem respectful, caring, and plausible, giving the victim confidence that what they are proposing is rational. Senior citizens are a major target. The best protection is to always be suspicious of any person who is proposing that you provide money for some special purpose that will be to your benefit. If you are ever approached by such a person and think it is a scam, report it immediately to the Lomita Sheriff’s Station. Here are a few examples of confidence games.
FAMILY MEMBER CALLING The victim receives a phone call from someone purporting to be a relative who has lost his/her wallet. Then the "relative" asks the victim for a loan until he/she can recover the wallet, and proposes to send a friend to collect it. This scam was tried several times recently in our City. One victim lost $1,500 loaned to her "nephew", who was never even in town.
BANK CARD A man calls the victim, stating that he is a bank manager and has just nabbed a thief trying to use her stolen bank card. He states that the bank card should be immediately canceled, which he can do if she gives him the pin number. Once the victim gives the pin number, the scamster can start using the card to make purchases or withdraw money from her account. Never, ever give credit card numbers, pin numbers, or personal information over the phone to unknown people. If necessary, call your own bank to confirm the legitimacy.
PIGEON DROP This is the name for a whole series of different scams, usually perpetrated on elderly people to get them to withdraw money from their own bank account and give it to the scamsters, who are often a pair working together. In one variation, the perpetrator approaches the victim with a paper sack saying it contains money he just found and for which he will receive a reward if he takes it to a bank across town. Since he doesn’t have time, he asks the victim to withdraw half the reward from his/her own bank and give it to him, then go and collect the reward. The sack only contains shredded paper. Another variation is for the scamster to say she has a winning lottery ticket, but can’t collect because she is an illegal alien. She convinces the victim to withdraw money from his/her bank account and buy the ticket for a fraction of its value. The ticket turns out to have been modified or is counterfeit. This type of scam has been around for many years, and yet it still traps its victims, who see a chance for easy money. The victims always say, "But he seemed so nice and honest".
DECEPTION/DIVERSION BURGLARIES A female team or male/female team approaches an elderly victim and informs them they have been sent by the church to assist in cleaning her home. While in the home, one of the perpetrators takes money, jewelry, and other items of value. The suspects are very mobile, quick to target homes in one community for several hours, disappearing for several days and then targeting another community on the opposite side of the county. Never let anyone into your home unless you know them or have specifically asked that they be there. Many rouses have pairs of people asking to come into your home - for a drink of water, to use the phone, etc. - while one person diverts the victim’s attention, the other robs the home.
MAIL FRAUD Victims purchase valuable items by mail or through the Internet, sending a check to pay for it. The check is cashed, but the merchandise is never sent. It’s a good idea not to order items by mail (or the Internet) unless it’s from a known, reputable company, they allow C.O.D. payment, or you use a credit card from a company that will credit the amount back to your account if you do not receive the merchandise.
UTILITY OR CITY SERVICE PERSONNEL The perpetrators pose as employees of the water, electricity, or gas company responding to a problem identified at the main office. While one perpetrator diverts the attention of the victim, the other steals items from the home. A variation of this is when the perpetrators present themselves as City employees checking on a problem. Never let anyone in without showing proper identification. Always supervise workers - never leave them alone, or don’t allow them to come in. These scamsters are currently operating in adjacent cities and can be expected in RPV at any time.
MAINTENANCE IN RENTAL UNITS A worker presents himself at an apartment unit and says he is there to repair plumbing, electrical, or gas. When he is left alone in the unit, he steals items from the victim. A phone call to the manager is all that is needed to check whether he has authorized work in your unit. Ask for the workers name and give it to the manager to verify that it is the correct person.
COMPANY CHECKS The scamster recruits people to deposit a company check into their own bank and withdraw an equivalent amount or write a check to the scamster, allowing the victim to keep part of the deposited amount. The victim later finds out that the company check deposited was written against a closed account and is not valid. This is just another variation of the Pigeon Drop scam where the victim, seeing an opportunity to get easy money, is led to do something he wouldn’t normally do.
THE FAMOUS 'NIGERIAN' SCAM' This one is regularly reported in the media, but it continues to successfully dupe many business people. A letter or e-mail is sent to a business requesting an urgent business relationship. The perpetrator states he is a manager for a government ministry that has an overdue contract payment amounting to millions of U.S dollars. He states that they want to transfer this amount to a U.S. account, and need the assistance of a reliable U.S.company or individual to receive the funds on their behalf. The letter also supplies the bonafides of the ministry and explains the need for strict confidence. Finally he offers a large commission if the company will provide this service. They will transfer the money into the victim’s bank account within 10 business days. All they need is the victim’s banking information. The victim’s account is cleaned out. Just like the Pigeon Drop scam, this one relies on the thought of easy money to suck the victim in. It would seem that businessmen would be wise enough to avoid it, but it has been in operation for at least six years and is still duping people all over the world.
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Telephone Scams
Typically, scamsters convince ordinary people to give them access to their phone lines or to accept charges for service they don’t want. When you fall for any of these tricks, the cost of the calls are legitimate charges on your bill, and the telephone company will not excuse you from paying for them because you were scammed. A large number of such scams are generated by people in prison who, by law, must be given access to a pay telephone.
TELEPHONE TECHNICIANS A fraudulent telephone technician informs the victim that the telephone company is testing the line, and asks for assistance by having the victim dial 9-0-#. This gives the caller free full access to the victim’s phone to make long distance calls. Another technique is for a fraudulent telephone company employee to phone the victim about a problem with the account or service that only providing the victim’s telephone card number will solve. Bingo, they can get unlimited international calling, at the victim’s expense. Legitimate telephone companies will never ask you to transfer a call, and if a technician does ask, you are being scammed into letting him use your telephone and paying for the charges. And never provide any kind of credit card number to someone who calls you!
FRAUDULENT LONG DISTANCE A popular fraud is to trick the victim into dialing a number that provides revenue to the owner. Telephone numbers in the Caribbean do not require an international code if dialed from the U.S., and some countries allow a telephone owner to receive up to 50% of the billing for an incoming call. They get people to call by advertising some inexpensive service or product in local newspapers and magazines, or in e-mail. Or they may send the number to pagers, tricking people into returning calls to these high-priced area codes. Here are the Caribbean area codes - 242, 246, 264, 268, 284, 340, 345, 441, 473, 649, 664, 758, 767, 784, 787, 809, 868, 869, 876.
TELEMARKETING FRAUD Some telemarketers calling people at home may claim to represent legitimate companies, but in reality are simply fishing for a victim’s credit card number. When ordering their merchandise, the victim receives nothing but the caller can go on a spending spree at the victim’s expense. Always ask for their phone number, and by law, they must comply. Also ask that they send information about their products, which honest telemarketers will be glad to do. Never give your credit card number or expiration date over the phone unless you initiated the call to a legitimate business or know the party calling you.
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