Police warn of increase in fraud schemes, some victims losing ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’
Fraud and scams prevention presentation to be offered April 24

The Prescott Police Department has seen a significant increase in fraud schemes and similar crimes throughout the community recently.

“It is really bad right now,” PPD spokesperson Dave Fuller said.

In just the last couple of weeks, about a dozen different types of fraud schemes have been reported, he said.

“We are talking tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars for folks,” Fuller said. “There’s one situation that’s really kind of gut wrenching. This particular person lost half-a-million dollars.”

In that instance, the victim, an elderly Prescott woman, was called by someone posing as the Chief Information Officer of the Social Security Administration. The scammer told the woman her account was in arrears and demanded immediate payment, which she complied with. Criminals that perpetrate these crimes often prey upon a victim’s honesty and good nature, Fuller said. In most cases, the criminal will demand immediate action and threaten consequences for nonpayment. They will try and make the victim nervous and push them into quick payment.

Some other recent examples of the types of scams currently circulating are the following:

A victim reported that he had been contacted by a caller who claimed to be from a utility company. The scammer told the victim he needed to pay a large sum of money in order to keep his power on. The scammer said the payment also needed to be made within a very short timeframe either through Greendot or Moneypak cards.

In another instance, a scammer told a victim she had multiple warrants for her arrest and needed to pay money in lieu of being arrested. The victim purchased Moneypak cards and gave the numbers to the scammer. 

A woman who nearly lost a great deal of money to a scam had received a phone call from an unknown male claiming to be her grandson who was in jail and needed bail money. The woman withdrew the requested money from her bank account, but was contacted by police before handing over the money to a delivery service.

Another Prescott woman reported receiving a call by someone demanding $4,000 to allegedly complete repairs on her computer.

Credit card skimmers have also recently been located at several businesses in the Prescott area, primarily at gas pumps, Fuller said.

“Frequently, these types of cases are perpetrated by groups who are operating outside of the United States, which makes them very difficult to identify or prosecute,” Fuller said.

“The Prescott Police Department would like to remind our community to remain vigilant about these and similar scams in which the caller claims to be from some type of reputable business or agency,” Fuller said. “If you get a call such as this, hang-up and contact the specific company directly or contact the police department for further investigation. Never provide personal information such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers, utility account numbers, pre-paid cards or other personal information to those who call under these types of circumstances.”

The Prescott Police Department will be offering a fraud and scams prevention presentation at Las Fuentes Care Center, 1045 Scott Dr., in Prescott at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 24.

Crime prevention information can also be found on the PPD website, www.prescott-az.gov/services-safety/police, and additional fraud prevention information can be found on the Attorney Generals web site, www.azag.gov.


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