A local family was recently scammed out of $90,000. That’s just one example of a loss Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister is hoping to help people avoid by informing the community about common scams.
“If you get scammed and you lose money, the chances of you ever seeing that money is basically zero,” Armbrister told residents of Bethel Estates during a recent presentation on common scams.
It is generally not possible to recoup funds lost to a scam because scammers are usually located outside of the United States’ jurisdiction. Armbrister said it’s heartbreaking to see Douglas County residents fall for these scams.
Scam basics
Scammers use emails, phone calls, social media and letters in the mail to trick people into giving out personal information.
They tailor their scams to the people they’re targeting. They may fraudulently claim to represent Social Security or Medicare to target older people, or reference establishments like local banks or credit unions to make their scams appear legitimate.
Red flags
Armbrister said the following are red flags to watch for:
• Things that are immediate and threatening
• Deals that seem too good to be true
• Anything that gets your emotions up so you bypass critical thinking
Scammers can “spoof” phone numbers, which means the phone number that appears on the screen isn’t the number the call is coming from. For example, a phone call may appear to be from 785-841-0007, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office number, when it’s really spoofed.
Artificial intelligence complicates the authentication of phone calls as some scammers are able to emulate the sound of a person’s voice to add another layer of believability. Armbrister recommends asking callers something only your friend would know the answer to.
A common scam with a spoofed phone number is a call claiming that the recipient missed jury duty and a law enforcement officer is on the way to arrest them. To “avoid arrest,” the victim is told to pay a large sum of money over the phone.
“They’re very good. They’ll convince you that you’re about to go to jail,” Armbrister said.
Another phone scam claims to be someone’s grandchild who has been arrested and needs prepaid gift cards to be released from jail.
Armbrister stressed that law enforcement officers will never take payments over the phone, bail can’t be paid with gift cards, and they don’t call wanted individuals when they’re on the way to make an arrest.
Always verify
When you start to doubt the validity of a phone call, Armbrister said to hang up and call back a trusted number, such as the main number for the sheriff’s office or a phone number you have on file for your bank. Any legitimate caller will be OK with that, but a scammer may become angry and yell at the recipient to intimidate them into staying on the phone.
Scammers pressure their victims to act immediately and to not hang up.
“They’re very aggressive,” Armbrister said. “They won’t let you get a word in.”
Scammers may claim to represent a fraud detection center and request your bank account information. They may claim to have caught a fraudulent transaction and that they need your account information to “return” the money to you.
The scammers may even act helpful and assist their victims in navigating online banking, but as soon as they get access to the account, they remove all the funds.
“My mom is 80. I could easily see her falling for that as well, because they’re so good at what they do,” Armbrister said.
Never provide information about your bank account to anyone who calls you or emails you.
More scams
• A scam commonly affecting young men starts with an innocent-looking text message that appears to be sent to the wrong number. The scam involves making the victim believe he’s talking with a friendly young lady and escalates into the scammer requesting the victim send a nude photo of themselves.
After the photo is sent, the scammer threatens to send the photo to the victim’s friends and family unless he sends the scammer a large sum of money. Armbrister said there are two options in this scam: “You pay or you live with it.”
• Armbrister cautions people to never divulge personal information and to never click a link that’s emailed from an unusual email address. A deleted email can’t hurt you and email scams “are only dangerous once you engage with them,” he said.
• Scammers also use Facebook Marketplace to lure victims. An item may be listed for sale at an exceptionally low price and request payment through a third party. Sometimes the items are listed from a friend’s account without their knowledge.
• For concerning letters that come in the mail, Armbrister said to use Google to search the title of the letter, plus the word “scam.” He said the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office or other law enforcement agency can also help people verify the authenticity of any suspicious messages.
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Molly Adams (she/her), photojournalist and news operations coordinator for The Lawrence Times, can be reached at molly@lawrencekstimes.com. Check out more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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