December 21, 2024 – Orange County Sheriff's Department officials report that recently, an 82-year-old woman lost 
$92,000 after falling victim to a common phone scam. The scammers told the victim they were a member of the Sheriff’s Department and used a current personnel’s name saying the victim’s financial account had been connected to illegal activity. The scammer encouraged the victim to verify his employment with the Sheriff’s Department and told her that her money must be transferred to a safer place. Once the victim learned the name the scammer was using was associated with a current employee, she wire-transferred the funds, losing a devastating amount of money. Please read these tips and share them with your loved ones to prevent becoming a victim of these kinds of scams.
- No government agency, including the Sheriff’s Department, will ever ask for any kind of payment on the phone, through a text, on email or over the internet.
- Names of many government employees, including Sheriff’s personnel, are in the public domain. If someone is calling you and representing themselves as a Department member, hang up and call our non-emergency line – 714-647-7000. Make sure you share with the dispatcher the name of the employee and their stated reason for the phone call. This information can help our dispatchers verify the legitimacy of the call. If EVER the caller is asking for any kind of payment, you can be assured it is a scam.
- Scammers can use fear tactics to pressure victims into paying. If ever a caller is asking for money and urging immediate action, it is a red flag for a scam.
- It is safest to not answer any phone calls from numbers you don’t recognize. If a voicemail sounds suspicious or is a person demanding money, contact the Sheriff’s Department.
View video here.
For more information on scam prevention visit ocsheriff.gov/scamprevention.
Source: Orange County Sheriff's Department
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