Officer Hettie Schaeffer was incredulous. Still another local resident had been victimized by an identity theft scam. In this case, the victim was called by someone who claimed to be with some type of "grant" organization and wanted his social security number and other identifying information. After giving away the "keys to the kingdom", the victim became suspicious and called the phone number that the scam artist had given him. It was obviously phony, and the alarmed victim called police. "You would think that everyone would know by now that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," said Officer Maggini. Her victim had misgivings as soon as he hung up the phone (and probably before) but still gave out critical information.
Amazingly enough, everyone still doesn't know (or at least follow) the basic rules of preventing identity theft and fraud. In spite of all of the efforts to alert and educate the public by business, government, social service agencies, non-profit groups, and of course the police, we still take reports every day from people who have lost money or vital identity information to every kind of scam and con, some as old as time itself. (Of course, we also get many calls from people who have successfully thwarted a con artist by taking simple precautions.) There are too many to mention here, although some of the currently popular schemes involve foreign lotteries, purchases of classic cars through foreign countries, the "South African bank" scam, and others. And, of course, new versions are being introduced every day. (Information on fraud and identity theft can be found at www.lodi.gov/police .)
So, you ask, with so many possible cons out there, how do you keep from being ripped off? Well, the rules haven't really changed over the years, even though the technology has. Avoiding a rip-off is surprisingly simple, if you just follow these time-honored principles:
1. There's no such thing as a free lunch: If a stranger wants to give you something, they want something in return. If they tell you that you are just the beneficiary of random luck, then your internal alarms ought to be ringing loud enough wake the dead.
2. A voice on the phone is just that: I can call you up (or email you) and tell you that I am the president of the Bank of Malta- how do you know I'm not? Deal with people you know, or take independent steps to verify who they are before you deal with them. Then double check.
3. Follow your gut: We take reports every day from people who say "I had a funny feeling…." They often call the police almost immediately, before the ultimate loss is even known. So why did they take the check or send the money or give out their driver's license number in the first place? If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.
4. If it's on the level, it'll be there tomorrow: There is no reason to rush, and if someone is rushing you, they probably have something that they don't want you to notice.
5. Nice guys finish last: Our basic sense of politeness can work against us when dealing with a con artist. If someone is pushing you into something, they are being rude. Be rude right back. It's your money and your privacy; guard them jealously.
What's amazing is how generally sensible people can forget these rules in an instant under the right circumstances. We are all susceptible to being conned, even though everybody knows the age-old saying that Officer Schaeffer repeated to me: "If it seems too good..." It's not enough to know it- we need to follow the rules.
They work!
Contributed by:
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Lt. William Barry