By Middletown Police Chief Henry V. Tobin, III 

      INCREASE IN FRAUD COMPLAINTS      

The Middletown Police Department has recently experienced a significant increase in the number of fraud reports. In an effort to increase public awareness, below we will describe some of the more common techniques currently being perpetrated against members of our community.

COMMON FRAUDULENT SCENARIOS:

1. Targeting our Senior Population: 

By pretending to be a grandchild or other family member OR to be calling on the behalf of a grandchild or family member.

A person will call a targeted senior victim and address them as “Grandma” or “Grandpa”, to which the intended victim replies using a grandchild’s name OR a person may call a targeted senior victim and explain that they are calling on behalf of their Grand-daughter or Grand-son, to which the intended victim replies using a grandchild’s name.  The name the Senior victim uses is what the suspect will use for the remainder of the conversation.

The suspect will relay a story wherein he or she needs money immediately; for legal fees because they have been arrested, or medical bills because of injury, or to pay for travel to return from a faraway place.  Either way, they will always ask for money to be sent to a third party, via money order, western union, money transfer etc.

The suspects in these scams are very convincing and will attempt to get the intended victims to send money as soon as possible by playing on our human emotions. Please do not send any money before confirming the identity of the caller and the validity of the “emergency."

Warning signs:
- Receiving a call from a relative that you have not had contact with for a long time.

- Receiving a call from an “Unknown”, “Blocked”, “Private”, or “Out of the Area” telephone number.

- No previous knowledge of the intention of family members to travel out of country.
- Caller asking you to provide any personal information for their lawyer.
- Caller asking you to not contact any other family members before sending the money.
 

Prevention: 
Do not remain on the phone with them. 

Tell them you will have to call them back:

• Call that relative using the listed number that you have for them
• If it is a true emergency there will be another number that you can reach them at

If you do remain on the phone, try to verify their identity using personal and specific information such as:
- What are the names of their siblings?
- What are their parents’ names?
- What is their full name (be careful to not provide this information)?
- What is their birthdate?

Above all else: DO NOT provide them with any of your personal or financial information.

Let the caller know that you will be contacting your attorney and local authorities before you provide them with ANY money

    2.) Winning Money

Another common scenario is as follows:
   A person calls and informs the intended victim that he or she has won a lottery in a foreign country.  To receive the money, the intended victim must send a designated amount to cover the taxes, processing, customs or other fees.  The intended victim will then receive the remainder of the winning amount.  The caller will provide fictitious names and numbers of Customs Agents to contact in order to set up payments.  In some instances, more than money may be a part of the contest winnings, such as brand new cars, boats, or vacations. 

The suspects in these scenarios are very convincing and will call intended victims multiple times in an attempt to get them to send money.

Warning signs:
You did not enter any contest or lottery.

The caller is requiring you to send money in order to collect winnings.
 

Prevention:

If you did not ENTER a contest, you cannot WIN a contest.
Do not remain on the phone. 

Tell them you are not interested or to send you something in the mail.  (If this is a true contest, they will have your address from your entry)

If you do remain on the phone, ask the following:
- How did I win?
- Who entered my name into the contest?
- What country is this lottery from?
- How did you get my information?

Remember:
Above all else, DO NOT provide them with any of your personal or financial information.

Let the caller know that you will be contacting your attorney and local authorities before you provide them with ANY money. 

   The Middletown Police Department offers the service of checking out these “scams” for you, free of charge. Our Crime Prevention Specialist will walk you through deciding whether there is a true family emergency, prize winning, or other financial transaction. Sgt. Christine Brenner can be reached at (302) 376-9950 or via email at christine.brenner@cj.state.de.us

Do not hesitate to contact Sgt. Brenner if you have any concerns whatsoever about a potential scam.