Wave Of Phone Scams Hits Hudson Valley

Phone scams are ubiquitous these days. On Friday, a 28-year-old Mount Kisco resident told Westchester County Police that she had been scammed out of $3,000 by a caller who told her he was from the Social Security Administration.

On Thursday, in Rockland County, Clarkstown police were deluged with reports from residents describing similar phone calls from someone purporting to be a Social Security official, threatening to suspend their account if they didn't send money.

Those aren't the only two communities where this scam is surfacing.

"We have received multiple complaints of this scam from people receiving the calls," said Peekskill Police Chief Don Halmy, who has seen two cases so far in 2019 where people actually fell victim to the scammers.

The SSA scam joins a long list of cons in a $37 billion annual criminal industry that targets about 5 million older Americans each year, according to government data.

Scammers are very sophisticated and they know how to take advantage of caller ID, just as they know how to pretend to be a young relative who needs bail money, or your computer manufacturer calling about a tech support problem.

Top scams nationwide include:

1. IRS impersonation scams
2. Robocalls / unsolicited phone calls
3. Sweepstakes / Jamaican lottery scam
4. "Can you hear me?" scam
5. Grandparent scam
6. Computer scam
7. Romance scam
8. Elder financial abuse
9. Identity theft
10. Government grant scam

The Mount Kisco woman followed the man’s instructions to purchase gift cards and provide her with the related card numbers. She contacted police after she realized she had been the victim of fraud.

In April, an employee of O&R prevented a Rockland County resident from doing something similar. She overheard a man in a pharmacy on the phone with a scammer, who was telling him he must pay $500 for his smart meter installation with a prepaid debit card immediately or his electric service would be shut off.

"The biggest clue that this is a scam is that the payment is usually requested in the form of some type of gift card or Western Union. No government agency would ever request this," Halmy said.

The Better Business Bureau has a tool that people can use to post reports of scams that have happened to them as well as read others’ reports. The Scam Tracker website is at https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker. It is searchable by geo, keyword, and type of scam.

Also available for no charge are studies on cons such as romance scams, tech support scams, counterfeit goods, and more, at https://www.bbb.org/scamstudies.

Also, Common Scams and Frauds offers these resources and tips:

• Report telephone scams to the Federal Trade Commission, either online or by phone at 1-877-382-4357. This is the primary government agency that collects scam complaints.
• Report all robocalls and unwanted telemarketing calls to the Do Not Call Registry.
• Report caller ID spoofing to the Federal Communications Commission either online or by phone at 1-888-225-5322.
Also report the scam to your state consumer protection office. Some consumer protection offices help residents resolve consumer problems.

Do

• Register your phone number with the Do Not Call Registry. Calls after you're on it are likely scams.
• Be wary of callers claiming that you’ve won a prize or vacation package.
• Hang up on suspicious phone calls.
• Be cautious of caller ID. Scammers can change the phone number that shows up on your caller ID screen. This is called “spoofing.”
• Research business opportunities, charities, or travel packages separately from the information the caller has provided.

Don’t

• Don’t give in to pressure to take immediate action.
• Don’t say anything if a caller starts the call asking, “Can you hear me?” This is a common tactic for scammers to record you saying “yes.” Scammers record your “yes” response to use as proof that you agreed to a purchase or credit card charge.
• Don’t provide your credit card number, bank account information, or other personal information to a caller.
• Don’t send money if the caller tells you to wire money or pay with a prepaid debit card.

Patch editor Beth Dalbey contributed to this report.

SEE ALSO:

• Scammers Are Scaring, Extorting Millions From Your Aging Parents
• Accused Grandparent Scammer Picked Up 'Bail' Money
• Off-Duty Utility Company Employee Thwarts Scam
• Social Security Phone Scams Deluge Clarkstown Thursday
• Putnam Sheriff Warns Of Summer Phone Scam
  
• 'Kidnapping' Phone Scams Increasing in the Mid-Hudson Valley