Police warn that deals sounding too good to be true, probably
are The age-old adage that if something sounds too good to be true,
it probably is
– is good advice for local residents, police say, considering a
rash of get-rich-quick schemes circulating in the city.
The age-old adage that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is – is good advice for local residents, police say, considering a rash of get-rich-quick schemes circulating in the city.
A recent scam targeting the elderly community tricked a 74-year-old Morgan Hill woman out of thousands of dollars, purporting to be notifying her she had won the Canadian lottery. The victim was asked to help “redeem” the ticket by paying taxes and transfers, in return for a portion of the lottery winnings.
“We do what we can to investigate these cases. However, many times there are not many leads and finding the suspect is difficult,” said MHPD Sgt. David Swing, who oversees the investigation of many of these cases. “We try to prevent these crimes through education and hopefully get the word out that these scams are out there and people should be cautious about their money.”
The latest victim was prevented from sending more money to the scam artists when an alert bank teller asked her what she was doing with the money and refused to give her more when the scam was revealed.
According to Swing, during this particular case, the victim receives something in the mail asking for help to redeem the lottery ticket. Once the victim responds and sends money, then the suspect continues to make contact, stating more money is needed and the victim’s “winnings” are on the way.
“The suspect is very convincing, making the unsuspecting and trusting victim think he is for real by using code names and passwords to ‘authenticate’ the transaction,” Swing said.
There are, unfortunately, many other scams, he added, and the elderly are often targeted, possibly because of their “trusting nature.” But when the elderly are targeted, it can be more devastating because often, they are on a fixed income, and their money is seldom, if ever, recovered.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at [email protected].
