The Virginia State Police (VSP) issued a scam alert after being alerted to “an alarming increase in phone scams targeting seniors and, especially, convicted sex offenders.”
The consistent theme among these scams has been phone fraudsters threatening people into paying hundreds of dollars in gift cards to the caller, according to a release from the VSP.
One of the popular scams is when the caller tells a potential victim a relative has been arrested, jailed, and is in need of a substantial amount of money in order to be released from jail. The phone fraudster can be convincing by providing extensive personal information about the relative who is supposedly in need of help, including the person’s date of birth, address, social security number, other family members’ names, according to the release.
The state police also are getting numerous calls from convicted sex offenders in the northern Virginia region who are being told there is a warrant out for their arrest. The sex offender is advised not to call the VSP and that the only way to adjudicate the warrant is by paying off a fine.
Virginia law prohibits unlawful use of the information provided on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry for purposes of intimidating or harassing an individual listed on the registry. Willful violation may be punished as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
With both cons, the scammer provides instruction on how the payment should be submitted, usually through an “eGift” cash card or similar payment to a specified account or name given by the caller, the release stated. The scammer often pressures, threatens and may be verbally abusive to intimidate potential victims into complying with the scammer’s demands.
Additionally, scammers often manipulate caller ID, a practice known as “spoofing,” to make the number appear to come from a nearby state police office or a local police or sheriff’s office. These scam artists use pre-paid phones and many times are not even in the jurisdiction where the crime occurred, which makes arrest difficult.
If you receive such a call, hang up and contact your local law enforcement agency or the Virginia State Police. Complaints also can be made to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which works with other law enforcement agencies to bring scam artists to justice and put an end to unfair and misleading business practices. Complaints may be filed online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP.
