BY OFFICER DAN SCHOEN • COTTAGE GROVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OFFICER

Scams

Question: What does my local police department do if someone tries a phone scam on me?

Answer:

Wherever there are communities filled with well-meaning residents looking to help people in need or stay on the right side of the law, there are also, unfortunately, scammers. Scammers continue to target our citizens because there are enough people falling for scams to make it lucrative.

What do some of these scams in our community look like? In some cases, fraudsters call their intended victims claiming to be local law enforcement officers with a warrant for the person’s arrest. They say the arrest can be dealt with by sending gift cards or other forms of payment immediately. It might seem hard to believe that someone would fall for this, but it happens too often. And it is rare that we can recover the victim’s money. Some of our Cottage Grove neighbors have lost thousands of dollars from these phone cons. We’ve had victims tell us they thought it was a scam but continued to send more money because they hoped it would help in getting all their money back.

What should you do if you get called by someone attempting to scam you? If you do not know who’s calling you, hanging up or not answering is the best defense. Don’t even give them a chance to appeal to your good nature. The sad truth is that our more senior neighbors get targeted the most. They come from a generation who actually answers the phone when it rings and wants to talk instead of text.

If you suffer a financial loss, report it to the police. If you do not get scammed out of money, reporting it isn’t necessary. Local law enforcement simply does not have the resources to spend tracking down attempted scam calls.

There is a place to report scam information to the federal government who tracks these ongoing attempts. You can report this information directly to the Federal Bureau of Investigations Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.lc3.gov or The Federal Trade Commission at 877-382-4357 by phone or online at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.

We are just as frustrated as you about these scams because they target our families too. Let’s all help to make our community an even safer place by staying educated about scams and helping our neighbors understand these risks.