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Boardman police note rise in scams
BOARDMAN
Township police said they’ve seen an uptick during the past two weeks in telephone and Internet scams preying on the elderly, and the Youngstown Better Business Bureau says it’s part of a larger trend.
Police Chief Jack Nichols said one man was asked to send a processing fee of more than $8,000 to claim a prize, and another man had a similar story of being asked to send a processing fee for winning an Irish lottery.
“It’s always a scam unless Ed McMahon is outside your door with a bag of cash,” he said.
Other common ploys are for people to claim to be a grandchild or other family member who got in trouble and needs bail money.
“Most of the time people are very reluctant to contact the police because they’re embarrassed, which makes it even more lucrative for people [running the scam],” the chief said.
Patricia Rose, president of the Youngstown BBB, said these types of scams are growing in popularity, and once money is sent, victims will never see those dollars again.
“The big problem is most of these people are in Canada or off-shore, and we have no jurisdiction. It’s a crime where it’s very difficult to prosecute or find the people. The best thing we can do is educate everybody,” Rose said.
Rose said people need to know exactly who they are dealing with online or over the phone and should ask for full names of the business and individuals contacting them. If people don’t remember entering a sweepstakes or lottery, they probably didn’t and therefore didn’t win, she added.
She said the latest scam involves text messages to people saying they’ve won a $1,000 gift card and need to pay a $1.99 service fee, and shortly after people give out their information, they find their identity has been compromised and/or hundreds of dollars charged to their account.
Rose said the BBB national and local website, Youngstown.BBB.org, are updated with information on common scams and how to avoid them. Nichols also said if people can’t tell if something is a scam, they could contact local law enforcement.
“If it’s too good to be true, it is. If they can’t tell, come visit with us [the police], and we’ll be more than happy to help them through it,” Nichols said.