Van Beek: The Grinch is tricky
Ho ho ho, the holiday season has arrived and while it is a time of love and giving, criminals know that it is also a time of distraction.
The creativity and expansion of digital access makes crime more accessible and harder to track than in years past. Old schemes take on new approaches and it is costing innocent people tremendous loss.
Living in an area known for safety, our guard is down, oftentimes making us more vulnerable to the ingenuity of criminal behavior. These can take the form of outright theft of merchandise or property, to the demand for money via fear (of arrest, deportation, medical bills, loved one in trouble, etc.).
Some of it is direct, such as a personal phone call or contact. Others are through seemingly innocent social media, or even coming from credible sources like a caller ID that displays a familiar number, or an email that has been “spoofed.” In phone calls, timing can work to their advantage; if made late at night, clear thinking can be clouded by exhaustion.
With advancements in artificial intelligence, even amateurs can duplicate voices and images of public officials or even loved ones, to appear genuine.
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We are receiving complaints about phone calls listing the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office in caller ID, demanding money for an ignored arrest warrant. Here is one recent example.
The caller says, “I’m calling to let you know that there is a warrant out for your arrest.” Shocked, you respond in disbelief. “What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything illegal.”
They say, “You ignored a subpoena to report for jury duty and the judge has issued a warrant for your arrest. But before we come out, I wanted to allow you the opportunity to pay your bail now, to avoid having to get processed into jail in the middle of the night. We can easily take care of it with a credit card, bank transfer, or gift card.”
If you receive one of these calls, please know that we will never call asking for money … not ever! If you get a call, tell them that you need a few minutes to determine how to best send the money and call the Sheriff’s Office directly … do not simply return their call or dial a number they provide.
You don’t quite understand what’s happening, but putting up bail now, without going through an arrest in the middle of the night, and you can deal with the rest of it in the morning.
They send you a text with a copy of the warrant. It looks official, right down to the emblems and signatures. I personally received one of these calls and was amazed at the amount of information they had, right down to a deputy’s name. In this case, they didn’t know that the James van Beek they called was also the sheriff.
Online scams can surface everywhere, including the popular Facebook Marketplace. We just received a call that someone purchased a car advertised on the site. They met with a real person to exchange the documents, which initially checked out as legitimate, and paid cash for the truck.
When they registered it, the Eagle County Recorder’s Office noticed something unusual about the title and asked that it be certified by a VIN inspector at the Sheriff’s Office. All of the VIN numbers and license plates matched, yet, the inspector discovered that the title had been altered and was fraudulent. This was a sophisticated scheme and despite the buyer’s due diligence, they ended up with no vehicle and out thousands of dollars.
Another scam is the online job offer. A text or email is received from a spoofed address, offering money for remote work. They will “interview” you via text or email, then make an offer. As a new employee, they will ask for the usual employer-needed information, like your current and previous addresses and employers for verification, your social security number for taxes, your banking information for direct deposits, your next of kin for insurance purposes, and other personal details. This is all an elaborate scam for identity theft and banking access.
With online ordering, if buying from an unknown source, attempt to check out the validity of the retailer before entering credit card information. Begin with a simple Google search of the name. They can be small or new and completely legitimate … just check. Regarding deliveries, beware of porch theft. Even cameras won’t stop the theft, as most hide their faces, and by the time the owner is aware, they are long gone. Request the store or delivery service to place packages on a back porch or perhaps deliver to a neighbor who is home. Out of sight is the best deterrent.
When ordering online, try to use an online credit card number. These are offered by many companies as a unique number, for a specific transaction, that will not work on any other purchase.
Please contact us if you have any concerns. We wish you a safe and joyous holiday season.
James van Beek is the Eagle County sheriff. You can reach him at james.vanbeek@eaglecounty.us.
