The Sheriff’s Department has responded to at least two reports of Morongo Basin residents who lost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars through scams. One resident received a call from someone who said his Social Security number was compromised, but he could protect it by buying gift cards, which he could use to buy government bonds. The victim lost $9,000 in this scam. Another resident got a call from someone claiming to be his grandson who was in jail in Mexico and needed bail money. The victim wired $950 to the scammer. Managing editor Tami Roleff offers the following tips from the Federal Trade Commission to help you know if these phone calls are scams….
Scammers may pose as relatives or friends, urging you to send money immediately to help them with an emergency — like getting out of jail—or maybe they say you’ve won a prize. Todd Kossow with the Federal Trade Commission says the goal is to trick you into sending money before you realize it’s a scam.
“All scammers want to get your money as quickly as possible and in a way that makes it hard to trace them, and hard for you to get your money back. He says there are two main ways scammers try to get your money.
“Wiring money is like sending cash you almost never get it back. And scammers know that.”
The other method is through gift cards or cash reload cards, like iTunes, MoneyPak, Vanilla Reload, or Reloadit.
“Once your money is loaded onto card, they’ll ask for card’s registration #s and that lets them get the money right away and you’re left with nothing. If anyone ever says you have to wire money or pay them with a gift card, or cash re-load card, that’s a scam.”
He has one final tip for consumers.
“No matter who they say they are, or how urgent it seems, Stop. Get off the phone, talk to someone then tell us at ftc.gov/complaint.”
