The Johnson County Sheriff is asking residents to practice fraud prevention after a Greenwood man was scammed out of $4,000.
The elderly man transferred $4,000 in gift cards to scammers claiming to be with the Russian and Chinese government, according to a news release from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
A deputy with the sheriff’s office responded to a home in the 1400 block of Eagle Trace Court about 10:17 p.m. Friday on a welfare check, the news release said.
The victim’s wife told police at about 6 p.m. her husband was talking to a man purporting to be from Apple security, and was told that his phone had been hacked by Russian and Chinese hackers. Scammers told the man to go to Target and buy $4,000 in gift cards, according to the news release.
The wife tried to stop him, but told police she could not reach him when he was buying the gift cards. She also said he was on medication for early onset dementia, the news release said.
Police officers found him at Target, but he had already sent the codes on the gift cards to the purported scammers, according to the news release.
Sheriff Duane Burgess is urging residents to go to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office website to learn more about ongoing scams, the news release said.
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Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess is asking residents to follow the following tips from the Indiana Attorney General’s Office:
- Register your telephone number with the Indiana Do Not Call list at www.IndianaConsumer.com or by calling 888-834-9969.
- Do not agree to purchase anything from a telemarketer unless a contract with complete details is offered.
- Record any details of the call, including the name of the telemarketer and company, their address and phone number.
- Hang up on telemarketers who do not give you time to take notes.
- Do not provide bank account, credit card account numbers or any other personal information to anyone over the phone unless you are absolutely sure the transaction is safe.
- Be wary of verification tapes. Telemarketers, under the guise of verifying or confirming the details of the transaction, may introduce false or misleading statements in an attempt to finish the sale. Or, they may ask misleading questions and then tape record your answers to be played back if you complain about the transaction in the future.
- Be extremely wary of telemarketers who want you to pay with a check-by-phone or money wire transfer.
- Research a company’s consumer satisfaction history before you buy. If something goes wrong, how will they handle your concerns?
- If you have any doubts, or if the offer made to you seems too good to be true, trust your instincts. Decline the offer and hang up immediately.
The following tips are being offered regarding people calling to solicit money for charities.
- Ask for information about the charity to be mailed to you.
- Don’t be pressured into making an immediate contribution.
- You have the right to cancel a pledge for money at any time prior to making the contribution.
- Be careful about solicitors who use police, trooper or firefighter in their names. Before contributing, call your local police or fire department to determine whether they have authorized a solicitation on the charity’s behalf.
- Beware of any solicitor who wants to send a courier to pick up your contribution. Under Indiana law, most contributions cannot be collected in person unless the initial ask was in person or a good has been offered that needed delivered.
Source: Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and Indiana Attorney General
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