Officials warn public to beware of scams
By Ron Maloney
The Gazette-Enterprise
Published January 25, 2007
The mail came or maybe the e-mail and the news was good.
Youve won the lottery. Or maybe, just maybe, youve won a big contest, will collect a bazillion bucks and all you have to do is pay today a paltry administrative charge of, say, $5,000, and you can cash the check.
Dont bet the bank on it, and dont pay up. The chances are virtually certain youre being set up for a scam.
Dont think so? It happens every day in Seguin and Guadalupe County, and at least once or twice a month, someone here is victimized by one of these or some other scam.
Guadalupe County Sheriffs Lt. Kevin Jordan, who heads Sheriff Arnold Zwickes Criminal Investigation Division, said his office gets inquiries about potential scams and frauds pretty regularly.
All the old scams bait and switch or pigeon drops and the like are still out there.
But today, Internet, mail and phone scams are the crimes du jour.
We havent had one recently where the people went through with it, but we get calls all the time from people who are solicited in one way or another, Jordan said.
A common scenario is one in which a crook dangles a big score in front of the mark and convinces him or her to ante up a smaller amount of money as a fee or, sometimes, a sign of good faith.
Jordan said the best thing to do is break off communication and call the cops or the sheriffs office.
If they receive suspicious mail asking for money or a check asking them to cash it and send money to someone, check with the sheriffs office or police department first, Jordan said.
Also, the veteran detective warned, beware of phone calls, e-mail or mail queries seeking personal identifiers or information such as bank account numbers, personal identification numbers, Social Security numbers or other information.
First, your bank already knows anything it needs to know to do business with you. Second, such information is vital to crooks who steal identities to use to defraud you or others.
We see lots of situations where people get taken advantage of particularly seniors, where they prey on their trust or good natures and take advantage of them. Call us before you make a mistake.
In the city of Seguin, Lt. Mike Watts, who runs Chief of Police Luis Collazos CID, said his office is seeing more and more scam victims or potential victims than previously.
Your first clue that you might be getting scammed is that youre being contacted about winning a lottery or sweepstakes you didnt actually enter, Watts said.
Such crooks, Watts said, can come up with reasons youve won anyway that sound convincing, but dont be fooled.
There are a lot of scams going around, Watts said. What the public needs to understand is that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. If you dont play the lottery, you didnt win the lottery.
Another variant of mail, phone or Internet fraud, Watts said, involves the sending to the mark or victim of a large check with instructions to deposit it.
Then, the crook contacts the individual and concocts some emergency whereby he tries to convince the victim to write checks against the deposited amount before the check clears. Of course, it is later found to be bogus and the victim is out the money advanced.
Another common scam, Watts said, is one in which the victim is approached after listing something for sale. Locals have recently called police to inform them about such situations.
In one case involving an item an individual had for sale, this person was sharp, caught on early and called us, Watts said. And thats what you should do. If you have any questions, call us first.
