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Police urge residents to watch out for fraud

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Contributed by: Rhonda Dougherty on 7/24/2008

Police urge residents to follow their guts, be vigilant about fraud attempts

A Castle Rock woman recently called the police to report what she thought was mail fraud.

She reported that she'd received a mailing from Frontline Consumer Research Group of New Jersey, soliciting her to be a personal shopper. The offer required her to make $200 worth of purchases as well as to wire Frontline $3,300 in order to evaluate her effectiveness using wire transfer services.

The woman used $200 to make the "required" purchases, though she did not wire any money to Frontline. Shortly thereafter, she received a check from Frontline for $3,975 and deposited it into her bank account. The bank returned the check as fraudulent, and the woman was penalized for writing checks against the money she thought was in her account. When she realized what had happened, the woman called police to report the fraud.

Although fraud is not a crime of violence, it can be devastating - especially for people living on limited income, said Police Chief Tony Lane. His advice: "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true."

The elderly are among the most vulnerable populations and, therefore, are one of the most targeted populations, Lane said. They're not the only potential victims. Perpetrators often send out mass mailings, expecting that someone will be naïve or desperate enough to take the bait.

People should be careful never to give out personal information on the phone or via the Internet, Lane said. Specifically, do not give out bank account numbers or social security numbers and do not send money for a service or item not received.

Once the "bad guys" get your money, he said, it's very hard to track them down and recover what they've stolen - the damage has been done.

Many Web sites are devoted to educating the public about Internet and other kinds of financial fraud. The Federal Trade Commission offers online advice about how to guard against all types of fraud. Go to www.ftc.gov and click on the consumer protection tab at the top of the page, then enter "fraud protection" in the search box.

Lane urges all residents to "listen to their gut" and if they sense something suspicious, call the nonemergency police number, 303-663-6100.

Rhonda Dougherty is a Community Relations Assistant for the town of Castle Rock.

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