Recent Scams That Plague San Angelo

Thus far this year, some San Angeloans have had the misfortune of being the victim of a scam.  

Officer Tracy Gonzalez, public information officer for the San Angelo Police Department, provided four recent cases where San Angeloans have become or almost became the victim of a scam.

The first case was June 22, 2016. Gonzalez stated, “A woman claimed she was contacted by someone claiming to be her nephew and asked her to send a money order.  [This was] not her nephew.”

Another reported case from July 8, 2016 consisted of “a victim [who] reported sending money through Western Union, but believed to be the victim of fraud.” Gonzalez said. However, there was “no further info available.”

Additionally, last week, there were two cases where local San Angeloans were the victims of a scam.

The first report was made on July 12, 2016.

“A victim claimed to have found a job on the internet assisting someone with their finances," Gonzalez explained. "The victim said she received a check in the mail for $3,500 and was instructed to keep $500. The victim made the deposit as instructed, but was later contacted by a bank employee who told her the check was not good. [This is] known as the Online Job Scam.”

The second scam took place on July 13, 2016. Gonzalez stated, “A victim reported that a company called Statewide contacted [her] and said she needed to make a $900 payment towards her student loan or a warrant would be issued for arrest. The victim made two $50 payments by money order before calling the police.”

Gonzalez noted, “Other common scams we see are IRS scams, locked out of the bank account scam (issues with card or account), and Warrant Scams.”

The Tom Green County Sheriff’s Department has actually encountered one case this year involving Warrant Scams. Lt. Christina Lopez with the Sheriff’s office gave some insight to this case.

Lopez said, back in March of 2016, victims reported that "somebody was posing as an employee of the Sheriff’s Office and calling residents telling them that they had outstanding warrants for failure to appear for contempt of court, or missing jury duty."

“They were being told that they needed to purchase a green dot money card," Lopez explained. "They were told to put money on those cards and then transfer the money from the card to them.”

Lopez advised that “individuals [should] not give out any personal information.”

Because of technology, scams are continuous, so local law enforcement encourages people to contact them first if they receive questionable phone calls requesting funds to be transferred, or payments to be made.

For more information about fraud and scams, click here.