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Two Baxter County Sheriff’s Office deputies tracked down and stopped a UPS package containing $20,000 in cash last week, returning the money to a 65-year-old Norfork woman who had been scammed out of it the day before.
The interception happened May 22 after Deputy Tanner Anderson responded to the woman’s report that she had been defrauded.
The victim told Anderson she received a text message claiming her account information had been compromised, according to the sheriff’s office. The suspect coerced her into withdrawing $20,000 in cash and shipping it by UPS to an address in San Francisco. The woman provided Anderson with a tracking number.
Anderson contacted the UPS location in Mountain View, where the package had been shipped, and worked through several UPS employees trying to stop it. He then called in Deputy Jason Bradley, who drove to the UPS office in Midway and connected with the regional security officer.
The two deputies and the security officer were able to intercept the package and route it back to the Mountain View UPS office. Mountain View police secured the package, and the woman recovered her $20,000.
Sheriff John Montgomery used the case to renew warnings about scams targeting older residents in the area.
“Scams have become increasingly prevalent in our area, and the scammers have become more sophisticated in their tactics,” Montgomery said in a statement. “The vast majority of these scams originate overseas, and it is all but impossible to retrieve money once a victim has been scammed.”
Red flags to watch for
The sheriff’s office released a list of automatic indicators that a contact is a scam:
- Anyone telling you not to call law enforcement
- Instructions to withdraw cash from your bank for any reason
- A requirement to pay anything, even $1, to receive a prize
- Instructions to buy gift cards and mail them or read off the numbers on the back
- Calls claiming to be from the IRS. The IRS does not call.
- Calls from a relative saying they are in jail but asking you not to verify with anyone else
- Calls claiming you missed jury duty and will be arrested if you do not pay. Law enforcement does not make those calls.
- Pop-ups on your computer telling you to call Microsoft or Google
- Anyone asking for your Social Security number or bank account number
- Anyone claiming to be from Medicare asking for personal information. Medicare already has it.
- Notifications that you won a prize in a contest you never entered
- Callers claiming to be from the sheriff’s office asking for money to get a friend or relative out of jail. Law enforcement does not do that.
- Calls from your bank or credit card company about fraudulent activity. Hang up and call the number on the back of your card.
- Anyone telling you to keep the contact a secret
- Anyone telling you to lie to your bank or family
Residents who believe they have been targeted by a scam are urged to contact the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
