The Bullhead City Police Department is warning the public of some recent scams reported by residents.
Employment Scams: People have received a package in the mail with a check and instructions on a job. The correspondence continued via email regarding their weekly salary and not to be alarmed that the checks would come from an “outsourced” company. The scammer then asks for money for upfront expenses to be sent via wire transfer, which is untraceable. Scams like this typically involve bad checks. Legitimate checks can take several days to verify. The scammer hopes that once you’ve cashed the check for your “job,” you’ll then send them money via gift cards or wire transfer only to later discover the check you thought you cashed was fake.
Please note that legitimate jobs do not advertise through unsolicited emails or mail. Scams often “guarantee” a job or ask for fees. Scammers usually offer large sums of money in the form of fake checks to entice victims.
Contact the Better Business Bureau to investigate any business offering this sort of employment. These types of employment scams are similar to prize notification and lottery scams. If it’s too good to be true; it probably is!
Threatening Scams: A local victim was threatened by a scammer claiming their social security number was connected to criminal activity outside the state. The scammer identified themselves as an “Intelligence Officer” and threatened that they would be arrested if they didn’t cooperate and send $700 in Nordstrom gift cards from CVS Pharmacy.
Scammers often use threats and urgency to convince victims to send them untraceable money or provide them with their personal information, such as their social security number.
Most scams are easy to identify if you know these warning signs:
· The caller is located outside of the country.
· You are asked to send money via wire transfer, prepaid credit cards or gift cards.
· You are threatened something bad will happen if you do not send money or provide/verify personal information (your bank account will close, you will be arrested, your grandchild will remain in prison, etc).
· You are told there is an urgency to send money.
· You are asked to “fill in the blanks”.
· You are urged to keep things a secret.
For more information on consumer scams, log on to the Arizona Attorney General’s website: www.azag.gov.
