St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office offers tips to avoid scams

Across the Northland, there have been several victims of scams, with fraud sometimes running into the thousands of dollars.

There are several types of scams, one common type is “spoofing.” This technique involves the scammer using a seemingly legitimate phone number to impersonate someone else.

“The suspect told our victim that a subpoena had been missed and a warrant, therefore had been issued for our victim, and that they needed to provide money in order to make the warrant go away. In this case, the victim was frauded slightly over $6,000″ said St. Louis county Sheriff’s Office investigator Zach Peterson.

Another type Peterson has seen is known as “pig butchering.” This is where a scammer will slowly build trust with the victim over the internet. Once trust is gained the scammer will offer the victim investing advice, which of course, is fraudulent.

“Our victim decided he wanted to withdraw his money is when it was found out to be fraudulent and that there was in fact no money being invested and he had not received these returns. Again, all those investments have been done through a cryptocurrency of Bitcoin, and our victim was out over $300,000 in that case.”

While there are lots of scams to look out for, Peterson and the Sheriff’s Office issued a list of tips to help citizens stay vigilant.

Red flags that something may be a scam:

• Someone claiming to have “insider” information
• Offering opportunities to make large amounts of money
• Fraudulent websites or phone apps
• Unsolicited assistance and advice
• Unable to meet in person
• Keeping you on the phone and not allowing you to call back
  o This prevents the scam victim from being able to verify the caller is who they
  claim to be
• Requests for money or personal information
• Fake emergency scenarios
  o Someone you know was in a car accident and you need to transfer money
  o Someone you know is in jail and you need to transfer money

Tips for Avoiding cryptocurrency scams

• Do not respond to random messages from unknown numbers or profiles
• Use caution with what information you share online
  o Even information that appears harmless may be used by a scammer
• Use caution on social media and online dating sites
• Be especially careful of unsolicited financial, investment, cryptocurrency advice
• Never share your personal financial information, especially with someone you have never
  met
• Cease all communications of you are asked to transfer money, buy gift cards, or provide
  identifying information
  Report all scam attempts to law enforcement