Scam artists calling South Tahoe residents
A South Lake Tahoe resident was scammed out of a large sum of money, according to South Lake Tahoe police officers.
The scammer told the victim he was stuck in customs and needed help getting out. The suspect convinced the senior citizen to send him a large amount of money. The scammers also called back and tried to convince the victim to give them additional money with an addition scam, saying he won the lottery, according to police.
The scammers are calling from a phone number with an 876 area code, which is Jamaica. Jamaica has been the source for a variety of international scams.
Officers warn people to never send or transfer money to people you don’t know even if the caller reports to be from a legitimate business; never call back any number provided by the caller; do not to give out any personal information over the phone to anyone calling you unsolicited.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
Another scam going around is someone looking for “Secret Shoppers” to visit local businesses, make a purchase, and then write a report. I received a check in the mail for $2,800.00. I was to deposit the check into my account. Then I was to go to Wallmart, make a small purchase of $10 and and keep my pay of $200.00. I should then wire the remaining amount to another poor “shopper” who had her money stolen. It’s sad but some folks would buy this and be out of a lot of money. Be aware out there!
Watch out for this one also-the “IRS” left a message on my phone that they will seize all assets if you do not return their call. I placed a call to the Sheriffs office,was told that indeed this is a scam-the dispatcher did not want to know the number to call as it was an out of country #. Anyone else receive this one?
I received two calls stating they were from the IRS and would seize all my assets, recorded messages, kind of garbled. Called back went to an answering machine.
Tony Colombo, Awhile back I got a call from someone claiming to be my grandson (which I don’t have) asking me to bail him out of jail. The caller wanted $534. I refused but this guy and some others kept calling for me to send them money.
Be careful there are all kinds of scams. OLS
We have been called several times by an outfit saying they are from Microsoft and claiming that our computer was infected with a virus and would soon crash if we didnt go to our computer and allow them access to our system. First, they were hard to understand, strong asian accent, second, they argued with me when I refused to cooperate, even yelling at me over the phone. They would call several times in one week with a different caller, then it stopped for a few months, then they called again. Beware, do not give them access to your computer or any personal info.
I’m glad I got caller ID – I also photocopied the phone book’s area code page so I can see where the call is coming from. I either don’t answer – and, surprise! they don’t leave a message; pick up, say hello only once and if no one responds I figure it’s a boiler room operation, or just pick up and immediately hang up. My husband queried the supposed Microsoft call as if he was astounded that they monitored a single citizen and then said something rude before hanging up. As seniors we get 3-4 calls a day from some sort of telemarketer. And, yes, we occasionally hang up on friends, but they call back. Just because they don’t have a weapon doesn’t make them thieves worthy of prison.
Like Tony Colombo and Tahoe Calm, I got a call from someone supposedly from the IRS saying charges were to be filed against me for back taxes and I needed to call a particular number. Needless to say, I hung up and didn’t call.
When I called the city police department, the person I spoke to said that they were not taking info on such calls and referred me to the FBI website to report fraud. It was tedious, so I didn’t do so.
With all the cheap/no cost/untraceable calls using voice over internet methods, the local law enforcement is not going to be able to help, and they would rather be out having more fun polishing all their new guns, crowd control weapons and military vehicles, and breaking down doors of suspected druggies anyhow.
What gets me is the access out there to peoples ages, phone numbers etc. There is no chance for privacy when the worlds largest companies are getting hacked for information on literally a weekly basis.
For all the Targets and Home depot hacks there must be thousands of lesser but unreported incidents.
How hard do you think the power company, the City and County work to keep our Data secure, and yet they all ask for it at every opportunity.
When I called the Sheriff’s office, since I now know I am not an isolated case, I assumed (foolish me) that this would be reported to the local media.NOT HAPPENING- thank you Kae for a platform for us.
My girl friends parents are quite old and live in the Bay area. Her father was in his late 80’s before he spent a night in the hospital.
Someone there sold his personal info to some scum. A woman calling claiming to be his illegitimate daughter from an affair during WW-ll called for weeks.
True; nowadays there are so many people going into the “medical” field. Doctors and hospitals are trying to cut costs and are hiring medical assistants and other clerical help, to comply with all the new paperwork, who’ve gone through 6 months training, and no telling where they were before that. My husband’s identity got ripped right after he started at a new medical office; the desk girl was all tatted and pierced, chewing gum. . . no proof of course, that it was her or anyone else, but we’re pretty careful. And they make you give ALL your info.
Definitely medical offices and hospitals are a security hazard.