MONROE - A recent resurgence of letter and phone scams have tricked some Green County residents out of more than $250,000 over the past two years.
Green County Sheriff's Detective Terrill Argue said the amount of money lost to scammers has accounted for more than the losses to thefts and burglaries in the county.
"It's a huge amount - this is really a major problem," Argue said.
Argue said the scams have recently involved a supposed Powerball prize, claiming that a person has won millions of dollars but needs to send along money to pay for taxes. This is less about identity theft, like Internet-based ploys, and more about building a relationship with the victim. Argue said the calls and letters originate from places like Nigeria or Russia, and there is really nothing he can do once the money is sent. Argue said the scam asks the victim to not tell anyone about their winnings, isolating them from reporting a possible scam.
"They're ruthless, and we can't do anything about it," Argue said.
Once money is sent off, Argue said they can trace where it went, but if it goes outside the United States, his hands are tied. He said he is finding the scammers usually case their victims by seeing if they have entered a lottery before and then try to build a relationship with them.
"Seven or eight years ago I rarely got these scams, now I get them all the time," Argue said.
He said there are many other scams roaming around, but the Powerball theme has conned people out of the most money. The scammers tend to ask their victims to purchase Walmart cards and wire money or send it through FedEx. Argue said there are several other scams. One asks for bond money from a long lost relative in jail. Another is if you try to sell a car on Craigslist, and a scammer sends you a worthless check written out for several thousand dollars more than the asking price.
"We've been able to recover a couple of cars that ended up in Milwaukee or Chicago," he said.
Argue also warned against trusting calls from someone offering free, leftover blacktop.
"Don't touch them, don't deal with them, unless you know them or know they are local," he said.
Maria Johnson, who works in Adult Protective Services for Green County Human Services, said she works very closely with victims and tries to warn of the dangers involved with so-called "free money." She said the elderly tend to fall prey to these offers the most.
"It gets to a point where nobody can convince them it's a scam," she said.
She said the victims tend to be people with a fair amount of money saved up, but that they are hard-working, good people. If victims get wary and tell the scammer as much, the calls ramp up and the scammer tries to become friends with their victim.
"This section of the senior community, they've really got the pulse and know how to work them," she said.
She said even after talking with victims, they still send off money. Their funds could totally dry up and they pull out a second mortgage in the hopes that their winnings are on the way.
Argue said the letters sent tend to be riddled with errors, and callers have a heavy accent. Argue joked that the sheriff's office won't be sending him to Nigeria anytime soon, so the best he can do is warn people. He said if you think it is a scam, it's better to screen those calls and not answer them. He said one victim he worked with has lost almost all of his money.
"Had to sell his cows to pay off one of these rackets," he said.
Green County Sheriff's Detective Terrill Argue said the amount of money lost to scammers has accounted for more than the losses to thefts and burglaries in the county.
"It's a huge amount - this is really a major problem," Argue said.
Argue said the scams have recently involved a supposed Powerball prize, claiming that a person has won millions of dollars but needs to send along money to pay for taxes. This is less about identity theft, like Internet-based ploys, and more about building a relationship with the victim. Argue said the calls and letters originate from places like Nigeria or Russia, and there is really nothing he can do once the money is sent. Argue said the scam asks the victim to not tell anyone about their winnings, isolating them from reporting a possible scam.
"They're ruthless, and we can't do anything about it," Argue said.
Once money is sent off, Argue said they can trace where it went, but if it goes outside the United States, his hands are tied. He said he is finding the scammers usually case their victims by seeing if they have entered a lottery before and then try to build a relationship with them.
"Seven or eight years ago I rarely got these scams, now I get them all the time," Argue said.
He said there are many other scams roaming around, but the Powerball theme has conned people out of the most money. The scammers tend to ask their victims to purchase Walmart cards and wire money or send it through FedEx. Argue said there are several other scams. One asks for bond money from a long lost relative in jail. Another is if you try to sell a car on Craigslist, and a scammer sends you a worthless check written out for several thousand dollars more than the asking price.
"We've been able to recover a couple of cars that ended up in Milwaukee or Chicago," he said.
Argue also warned against trusting calls from someone offering free, leftover blacktop.
"Don't touch them, don't deal with them, unless you know them or know they are local," he said.
Maria Johnson, who works in Adult Protective Services for Green County Human Services, said she works very closely with victims and tries to warn of the dangers involved with so-called "free money." She said the elderly tend to fall prey to these offers the most.
"It gets to a point where nobody can convince them it's a scam," she said.
She said the victims tend to be people with a fair amount of money saved up, but that they are hard-working, good people. If victims get wary and tell the scammer as much, the calls ramp up and the scammer tries to become friends with their victim.
"This section of the senior community, they've really got the pulse and know how to work them," she said.
She said even after talking with victims, they still send off money. Their funds could totally dry up and they pull out a second mortgage in the hopes that their winnings are on the way.
Argue said the letters sent tend to be riddled with errors, and callers have a heavy accent. Argue joked that the sheriff's office won't be sending him to Nigeria anytime soon, so the best he can do is warn people. He said if you think it is a scam, it's better to screen those calls and not answer them. He said one victim he worked with has lost almost all of his money.
"Had to sell his cows to pay off one of these rackets," he said.