"Legend" scams - how not to become a victim? Poddębice police warn

Scammers using the "grandson", "policeman", "coronavirus" method, or as part of alleged police actions to combat "bank fraudsters", are still active. It is always worth reminding and broadly discussing the methods used by these criminals. The Poddębice police remind us about the basic rules that can protect us from losing our savings.

We appeal, especially to young people - let's inform our parents and grandparents that there are people who may want to take advantage of their kindness. Let's tell them how to behave in a situation when someone calls them asking for a large amount of money.

How not to be deceived?

Don't be gullible, always apply the principle of limited trust, check the credibility of the information obtained, confirm the phone numbers of people referring to various types of institutions, do not click on suspicious links. The ingenuity of criminals is huge, they use various methods and social engineering to achieve their goal.

The scale of "under the legend" scams is huge. To arouse the imagination of how cunning scammers can be, below we present only a few of the most common methods used by fraudsters, with which they want to deprive us of savings and any valuable items.

"Granddaughter" - usually the perpetrators call the home phone, introducing themselves as a grandson, granddaughter, nephew or niece (the voice on the phone is distorted and older people often think that family members are actually calling). They explain to "grandfather" or "grandma", e.g. that they are the perpetrators of a collision or an accident. Therefore, they are asking to borrow money to pay compensation to avoid liability for causing the incident. Scammers inform that they cannot personally come for money, giving some trivial reason. Therefore, they will send their good friend or colleague to collect them. After some time, this familiar "granddaughter" shows up at the victim's apartment for money.

"ON MERCY" - people knocking on apartments asking for something to eat or drink, claiming that their father recently died, and that their mother is in hospital or are in another very difficult situation. Elderly people, without thinking for a moment about helping, prepare a meal, and at the same time scammers rob the apartment.

"FOR AN ORGANIZATION" - scammers claiming to be employees of social welfare, tax office, PRK, ZUS, gas company, waterworks or administration, extort money, claiming that we have been granted a cash or material benefit, tax refund, higher pension or rent, so they have to fulfill something. Then they are usually invited to apartments and begin to observe the household members. Then they extort fictitious fees, e.g. for tax stamps. Sometimes, however, this action is intended to indicate where we store money. Later, the thief asks for a glass of water, for example. The unsuspecting person goes to the kitchen, and when he returns, the crook and the money are gone.

"CORONAVIRUS" - scammers call claiming to be a family member who fell ill with Covid and is in very bad condition. After a while, an alleged doctor enters the conversation, who confirms this situation, pointing to the urgent need to implement life-saving therapy. about the need to incur significant financial outlays, they try to extort money by preying on the good heart of the interlocutor and his fear for the lives of their loved ones. In order to force a quick reaction, they put verbal pressure on older people. To achieve their goal, they can cry into the receiver or even shout at the interlocutor who does not want to give them money.

ON THE "AMERICAN SOLDIER" - the scammer searches for single people on the Internet and then makes contact with them. Using photos from the web, he presents himself as an American soldier who is currently out of his country. The scammer gains the victim's trust through regular contact and the presentation of false life stories, and then asks for financial help to buy a plane ticket to Poland or very expensive treatment. Once the victim of the scam transfers money to the criminal's account, they are left without a loved one and without money.

Military Scams - Soldiers are attractive targets for scammers for several reasons. Scammers take advantage of the respect of soldiers and pose as them to extort money.

ADVANCE ADVANCE/Pre-PAYMENT SCAM Scammers ask the victim to pay in advance for financial services that will never be provided. Victims often make several consecutive transactions to cover various upfront payments. Common methods include: credit cards, grants, loans, inheritances or investments.

ANTIVIRUS SCAM A person claiming to be an employee of a well-known computer or software company contacts the victim saying that a virus has been detected on the computer they are using. The victim is informed that the virus can be removed and the computer protected for a small fee by credit card or money order. In fact, there is no virus on the computer and the victim just lost the money sent for protection.

CHARITY SCAM The scammer will often contact the victim via email, mail or phone asking for a money transfer for an individual to help victims of a recent disaster or accident (e.g. flood, cyclone or earthquake) ground). Legitimate charities will never ask for donations to be transferred via money transfers to individual accounts.

EMERGENCY SCAM The victim is manipulated into thinking they are sending money to help a friend or loved one in an emergency. Natural concern for the closest people is used to make the victim send money quickly.

JOB SCAM Victim responds to a job ad, is hired for a fictitious job, and receives a fake check for business expenses. The amount on the check exceeds the victim's expenses, who therefore sends the remaining funds by money order. The check cannot be cashed and the victim must pay the full amount.

Extortion Threats of life, liberty, or other demands by scammers to extort money, property, or services from a victim under duress due to alleged debts, and the use of threats if they do not cooperate.

FAKE CHECK SCAM Victims often receive a check asking them to deposit it in a bank and use the funds for business expenses, online purchases, anonymous purchases, etc. The check turns out to be fake (counterfeit) and the victim must pay all costs that were to be covered by the amount for which the check was made. Please note that you should not use a check deposited in your account until it clears, which may take several weeks.

IDENTITY THEFT Identity thieves use personal information (eg Social Security numbers, bank account information, and credit card numbers) to pose as someone else. It can go, for example, to open a bank account, clear an existing account, apply for a tax refund or cover a medical bill.

IMMIGRATION SCAM An unknown person claiming to be an immigration officer calls a victim to report a problem with their immigration records. For added credibility, the scammer may provide personal or sensitive information about the victim's immigration status. The alleged official demands immediate payment to correct problems with the victim's records, and may also face deportation or imprisonment if payment is not made immediately by money order.

ONLINE PURCHASING SCAMS Scammers use websites or online advertising portals to advertise non-existent products, such as mobile phones, event tickets or cars. Be careful when sending money in response to an advertisement posted online.

Scams

LOTTERY/PRIZE SCAM Victim receives notice that they have won a lottery, won a prize, or won a cash bet, and must send money to pay tax or fees on winnings. The victim may receive a check with a portion of the winnings, but after depositing it and sending the money, they find that the check cannot be cashed.

SCAMS RELATED TO MULTIPLY MONEY MULTIPLIES Social media is used to lure new victims into the old scam method of advertising ways to multiply cash quickly. Investors receive a proposal to take advantage of loopholes in the currency system and use additional funds in order to obtain a profit of several thousand zlotys from a few hundred zlotys invested. Once the cash is obtained, scammers often block the victim from further contact via social media or telephone.

ANONYMOUS PURCHASING SCAM The scammer contacts the victim through a job posting website or the victim responds to a job posting that evaluates a money transfer service. The scammer will often send the victim a check for deposit and instruct them to send a money order and keep part of the check amount as compensation. The victim sends the money, the scammer collects it, and when the check fails, the victim is responsible for paying the full amount.

OVERPAYMENT SCAM The scammer sends the victim a check that appears to be a valid payment for a service or product. Typically, the amount on the check exceeds the amount expected by the victim and the scammer asks for the excess amount to be refunded by money order. When the check cannot be cashed, the victim must pay the full amount.

PHARMATING Correspondence from people claiming to be representatives of trustworthy entities, such as banks and credit institutions, aimed at phishing personal data or password from the victim. Phishing is an illegal attempt to steal personal information or introduce malicious code or software onto another computer, usually by email (sometimes also by phone or text message)

Knowledge Scam The victim is manipulated into believing that she has developed a close relationship with someone she met online, often through social media, an online forum, or a dating site. The victim often becomes emotionally involved in the relationship and sometimes calls the recipient fiancée.

RENTAL REAL ESTATE SCAM Victim sends money for a rental property bond and never gets access to the rental property, or the victim owns the property and receives a check from a landlord who asks for a refund of part of the check by money order but the check fails.

SOCIAL MEDIA SCAM If a cybercriminal gains access to your social media accounts, they will also have access to your close friends and family. Criminals and scammers can take advantage of how much personal information we share online, and then use that information to craft skillful and highly detailed stories to trick our friends and family into, often including requests for money.

SMS/SMISHING SCAM Beware of messages that ask you to click on a link to a suspicious website or inadvertently provide personal information that could be used against you.

TAX FRAUD A person claiming to be a government official contacts the victim and informs them of their tax arrears, which must be paid immediately to avoid arrest, deportation or loss of driver's license/passport. To pay taxes, the victim is advised to send a money order or purchase a prepaid debit card. Employees of offices never demand immediate payment or call about tax arrears without first sending a letter in this regard.

TELEMARKETING Telemarketing in the broad sense includes almost any commercial transaction in which a telephone is used to establish a connection with an individual customer and a telemarketer or retailer or receive such a connection in order to transfer funds, e.g. cash transfers or funds saved on a card prepaid as payment for goods or services offered or sold via telemarketing, often in relation to "free" or heavily discounted vacation promotions, prize scams or "bargain" magazine sales.

Only common sense and limited trust in dealing with strangers will help limit the wave of scams! The circumstances of action are different, but the mechanism is always the same. Criminals take advantage of people's credulity, willingness to take advantage of attractive offers or easy money. However, you end up losing money.

The following are the PRINCIPLES OF LIMITED TRUST, which, when implemented, will positively affect the improvement of security.

DO NOT TRANSFER MONEY TO PEOPLE WHO PHONE PHONES ARE YOUR RELATIVES. Fraudsters, wanting to extort money, call you and claim to be a member of your family, e.g. granddaughter, nephew. They present a made-up story asking for financial assistance. In this case, make sure that the person they claim to be really needs help. Call her back. If you can't contact her, it's better not to help her.

DON'T TRUST SPECIAL DEALS Remember, nothing in the world is free. An occasional low price may mean that the goods are stolen. You can find a tombak in the box with gold, and a shredded newspaper in a bundle of banknotes.

REQUEST IDENTIFIER FROM VISITING EMPLOYEES OF THE INSTITUTION Each employee of the "gas plant", "power plant" or "cable company" has an ID. Demand to show it. If in doubt, call his place of work. You will find the phone number on your bill or in your bill of charges. It is important not to ask for the phone number of people who want to get into your apartment.

BEFORE SIGNING THE AGREEMENT, MAKE SURE THAT IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE AND YOU REALLY NEED THE GOODS. Read the terms of the contract and discuss them with someone close to you. Make contracts only in writing. Approach the services offered by salesmen with extreme caution. Think twice if you need the proposed product/service.

DO NOT PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF TO PEOPLE STRANGERSDo not provide information about yourself, your family, your valuables and savings to people you do not know. Your personal data is legally protected and it is up to you to whom and for what purpose you share it.

DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR TO THE APARTMENT TO PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOWDo not open the door to the apartment or the entrance to the staircase to people you do not know or have not invited yourself.

WHEN SHOPPING, AVOID CONSTRUCTED PLACES, TAKE A DEDUCTED AMOUNT OF MONEY. Pickpocketing is committed under the guise of artificial crowding, which you should avoid. When paying for purchases, do not reveal the entire contents of your wallet. Try to settle the amount due with the deducted amount of money. Take only those documents that are necessary for shopping. If you have a payment card, do not reveal your PIN or write it down anywhere. When you lose your documents, stop them, notify the Police (when the loss occurred as a result of theft or other crime) and notify the nearest commune authority to obtain a new document.

BE CAREFUL ON THE STREET. CROSS THE ROAD IN DESIGNATED PLACESPedestrians also cause road accidents. By crossing the road in the designated place and taking special care, you reduce the risk of being hit.

In case of any suspicion, please contact the Police. It is also worth contacting your immediate family and informing them of the fraud attempt.

source: KPP Poddębice