Pittsburgh Police want you to be alert and not fall victim to these new scams

Officers with the Pittsburgh Police Telephone Reporting Unit are alerting the public about an increase in fraudulent financial schemes.

Pittsburgh Police Warn the Public about Increase in Various Fraud and ScamsPhoto byPittsburgh Police Blotter

The most recent one targeted a city business owner who received a call from a person posing as “Publisher’s Clearing House” regarding a prize claim. The victim used cashier's checks to send $125,000 to a number of addresses before realizing it was a scam and dialing 9-1-1.

The "grandparent scam" is another well-known hoax that mostly targets senior adults by informing them a grandchild or loved one is in jail, an accident, or some other kind of trouble and that they need to transfer money right away.

A couple in the Pittsburgh area were contacted by a scammer via phone just this past week. The caller led them to believe that all of their investments and accounts had been hijacked and demanded that they download an application in order for the caller to "remote in" to the victim's computer and resolve the issue. Fortunately, they discovered it was a bogus call before their accounts were nearly liquidated.

It should be mentioned that a large number of these scams operate differently and frequently have foreign origins.

The following advice is being offered by police to help prevent financial fraud:

• Banks will never ask for PIN numbers or one-time access codes over the phone.
• If a call appears strange out of the ordinary or unlikely, it most likely is. When in doubt, end the communication right away and give your bank or financial institution a call using the number shown on your bank statement or on the official bank website—never via an email link.
• Avoid answering or block calls from repetitive unknown, or blocked numbers.
• Never depend on caller ID. Scammers with advanced skills might mimic phone numbers to appear to be your bank.
• Never give out confidential or personal account information to strangers via text, email, or phone.
• Avoid clicking on unsolicited emails or texts if you are not familiar with the sender.

We are more susceptible to digital and online fraud as we do more and more over text and email every day.Photo byPexels

We use text and email more frequently each and every day, therefore we are more vulnerable to online and digital theft. Scammers constantly modify their methods in order to elude detection. Please notify 9-1-1 right away about any bogus calls, emails, or text schemes. Have you received any fishy texts or calls recently? Let me know about it in the comments.

Sources:

https://pittsburghpa.gov/publicsafety/blotterview/2771

https://northsideactionnews.com/2024/05/01/pittsburgh-police-warn-the-public-about-increase-in-various-fraud-scams/