Say NO & HANG UP! “Operation Call of Deceit,” was a 3-year investigation into a large scale racketeering scam by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
The victims were local businesses and the elderly. Pinellas residents 65 to 89 years old were randomly called by the leader of this criminal enterprise. He used high-pressure sales tactics to harass them into giving him their credit card information. At least 19 elderly individuals fell prey to this scheme. The suspect and his accomplices used the credit card numbers to purchase expensive power tools or appliances and later returned the merchandise for cash; or sold to it local contractors for a fraction of the cost. Financial losses totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars. This suspect bullied the victims into providing their credit card information. At other times, scams may take a more subtle approach. Both are exploitation!
Beware of callers who claim to be from the IRS or Department of Revenue, Microsoft, Geek Team or any who makes promises or “sweet talks” you into providing your credit card or other personal information. Some examples of current phone scams that often target the elderly include the caller who claims to be from the IRS and tells the person that they owe money in taxes and if they don’t pay it immediately, law enforcement will be at their door to take them to jail. In another, the caller delivers the “good news” to an unsuspecting victim that he/she has won a lottery or sweepstakes prize, and all they have to do to claim their prize is to pay the taxes on their winnings. Sadly and often, victims are out thousands of dollars before they realize they were scammed.
The best line of defense against these telephone con artists is to simply hang up the phone and never provide any personal or financial information. We encourage you to reach out to your elderly friends and relatives and remind them that if a call doesn’t sound quite right; or if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not. This type of intrusion into the privacy of your home should be taken very seriously and reported to law enforcement. Through increased awareness and by watching out for our elderly you are helping us accomplish our mission of “Leading The Way For A Safer Pinellas.” Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is on Facebook; Twitter, and online at pcsoweb.com.