Phone Scams Target Darien Residents

Several Darien residents have lost a significant amount of money through phone scams.

Darien Police have received 18 scam reports in the past two months. The City of Darien has provided the following review of the reported incidents to help others avoided being scammed.

• Relative or Grandchild in Jail - typically a call is targeted to older residents whereby the caller pretends to be a family member who has been arrested and needs bond money. The caller is relying on the resident to be hard of hearing or has not been in contact with the family in some time. Excuses are made by the caller that he has a cold to explain the change in voice, or a desperate need to get out of jail and to not notify parents. The caller instructs the resident to either wire money or purchase Green Dot gift cards. The caller will then obtain the PIN number on the gift card and wire money off of the card. The wire transfers are untraceable. Do not act on the caller’s instructions before actually talking to a family member to verify claim. Report incident to the police.

• Internal Revenue Service -Warrant for Arrest- residents continue to receive calls from individuals claiming to be from the IRS, that back taxes are owed, and threatens arrest unless payment is made. The callers have middle-Eastern accents, yell and threaten the residents. In several cases, the residents caller ID showed “IRS”. A computer device can be purchased to display any phone number or name regardless of the originating call location. The IRS does not call and threaten residents with arrest on back tax cases. This is a scam, hang up phone and report incident to police.

• Microsoft Monitoring Computer Issue or Virus -residents are still receiving calls from individuals identifying themselves as a Microsoft employee that are monitoring a computer issue or virus on a residents computer. The caller instructs the resident to allow remote access to their computer. Once the caller has access to your computer, they can download your computer hard drive files, passwords, bank account information, or add a virus or keystroke registry that will send the caller a detailed report of your computer activity including websites, user/password information. Microsoft does not monitor anyone’s computer, this is a scam. Hang up on caller and report incident to police.

• Police Threaten Arrest - a resident receives a voicemail from person claiming to be the police and threaten lawsuit unless resident returns call. Legitimate police will not threaten lawsuit. Do not return phone call. Notify police.

• Resident Receives Check - Several residents have received inquiries on items they had for sale on CraigsList or other social media. The buyer sends a check in an amount larger than the agreed upon amount and then contacts seller to deposit check and return the overage. The checks are counterfeit. The buyer had no intention of making the purchase, only to have the resident cash a fake check and send money. If the resident cashes the check, the bank will require the resident to pay back the full amount. If you receive a check and it is not the actual amount agreed to, do not cash. Contact your local bank and inquire as to whether the check is legitimate. Notify the police.

• Resident Receives E-mail Asking for Copy of Passport - a resident receives e-mail from individual claiming to be with a governmental agency in England that has the resident’s luggage and needs a copy of their Passport. The e-mail originated in India. The resident has not traveled to England. The person is looking for personal identifiers that can be used for identity theft. Do not respond to any inquiries that ask for your personal information.

• Resident Responds to CraigsList for Equipment - a resident responded to an ad on CraigsList for a piece of construction equipment for sale. The seller asked the resident to purchase Reloadit gift cards and then wired the money off of the gift cards. The wire transfer is untraceable. There was never an intent to sell this equipment, the ad was removed and immediately relisted for another victim. Do not purchase any gift cards (GreenDot, Reloadit, or other cards) and then give out the PIN number.

• ComEd calls - a resident received a call from an individual claiming to be from ComED , asking who handles bills in the home. The resident asked where the caller was calling from and the caller hung up. These calls are designed to have the resident give out their name, address and account number. The caller will then transfer other billing addresses onto the residents account. Do not give out any personal information to any unsolicited caller.

• Sweepstakes Scam - resident receives call from individual claiming to be with Consumer Detection Bureau advising resident they won a second chance sweepstakes. Resident was instructed to purchase a Cashier’s Check and send check. Do not respond to calls that you are a “big winner”.

Please exercise caution when corresponding to unsolicited phone calls or e-mails. Do not give out any personal information and do not purchase gift cards for these callers. Hang up the phone and report incident to the police.

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