|Photo by Emma Delk| Wheeling Police Detective Sgt. Rob Safreed advises to “be skeptical” of identifying online scams.
WHEELING – The Wheeling Police Department is warning that there has been a growth in online scams in the area due to increased social media and internet usage.
Crime statistics reported by the WPD for 2023 revealed a 7% increase in fraud committed in the city, with Wheeling Police Chief Schwertfeger identifying a national growth in white-collar crime as a major factor in the increase.
An increase in time spent online increases the possibility of one being targeted for a scam. Texts, phone calls and social media messages are all forms of communication that scammers use to target victims, according to Wheeling Police Detective Sgt. Rob Safreed.
The content of the messages sent by scammers can vary, with Safreed identifying scam artists looking to swindle victims out of their money or personal information.
Safreed noted that there are “all kinds of scams out there,” with criminals getting “very creative” with the ways and means they try to trick victims.
A scam that the WPD often encounters is scammers who identify themselves as a family member or loved one in jail who needs bail money.
Another common encounter that scheme officers encounter are scam artists identifying themselves as members of the IRS or the Sheriff’s Department who require the victim to pay a fine with a prepaid debit card or gift card.
Safreed added that they have also seen Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency scams.
Scam artists often do “a little bit of research,” Safreed noted, to enable them to better know and manipulate their victims. Safreed added that scammers are also “very good” communicators, which allows them to convince people that they are “talking to someone important”, be it a loved one or a friend.
“If what they tell you is too good to be true, it often is,” Safreed noted. “If someone calls to tell you that you have won the Nigerian lottery, you have not won the Nigerian lottery.”
The demographic that most often falls victim to these scams is the elderly, with Safreed explaining that their “more trusting nature” makes them more vulnerable to these scams.
Victims of scams can lose anything from “a few hundred dollars to sometimes thousands of dollars,” according to Safreed.
Regarding the money a victim loses, Safreed said, “Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re ever going to come back.”
Due to scams typically falling outside the WPD’s jurisdiction and scammers often not even living in the US, it is rarely possible for the WPD to track down the scammer. Safreed said he has never seen an incident where the victim and suspect of a reported scam lived in Wheeling.
Aside from money, scammers may seek personal information, such as a person’s social security number or date of birth. With this information, scammers detailed by Safreed can apply for credit cards, loans or car rentals.
“Losing that information can affect you financially because it will hurt your credit score,” Safreed noted. “You may have to pay higher interest rates on loans or credit cards you currently have.”
Safreed advises those who have been defrauded of personal information to contact the credit bureau and possibly invest in an identity theft program.
“There are several identity theft programs out there now,” Safreed added. “I think a lot of insurance companies even now offer some kind of credit protection plan.”
To identify a scammer, Safreed’s advice is to “be skeptical,” whether the scammer tells someone they’ve won money or asks for personal information.
“Be skeptical of people who tell you you won a contest you didn’t enter, and be skeptical of people who ask for your personal information,” Safreed said. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions of the person you’re talking to if you suspect it’s a scam.”
When the WPD receives complaints from fraud victims, complainants are referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Safreed advises anyone contacted by a scam artist to report the scam to the Internet Crimes Complaints Center at www.ic3.gov.
“We take the initial complaint from the victim of a scam,” Safreed explained. “The complainant contacting the ICCC is how they report the crime to the FBI.”
Safreed noted that the FBI keeps track of “trends and what types of scams are going on,” so any information one has about a scam is important to report.
“Anyone can fall victim to a scam, and the FBI would like to know for those purposes of trend analysis,” Safreed noted. “All that information is important.”
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