The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

TOUCHET VALLEY – Like death and taxes, fraud plays few favorites. Young or old, rich or poor, nearly everyone of legal age is a potential victim, whether random or targeted.

Scams are a constant concern, but with fraudulent activity typically taking an uptick during the holiday season, it’s wise to be vigilant.

Last month’s Dayton Police Notes are peppered with reports of fraudulent calls, and that’s probably a fraction of the calls that were actually received by citizens. Conversations with Waitsburg residents indicate fraud is alive and well in Walla Walla County as well.

Phone scams reported in Dayton in the last month include supposed IRS calls requesting personal information and calls advising the victim they have been awarded a monetary prize and need to send funds to claim their winnings.

In the past, Columbia County dispatchers have received reports of calls to older individuals from “grandchildren” who are in trouble and need money wired to them. This is also a popular email scam and has become prevalent on Facebook as well, with the thief stealing the identity of a friend or relative and then asking for monetary help for some type of emergency.

Last summer, Waitsburg resident Carol Guay was contacted by “Windows Tech Support” asking to access her computer to demonstrate that her desktop had been attacked by viruses. She was then asked to pay for an update to correct the problem.

The “rep” pulled up the critical error messages on Guay’s event log as proof. (The errors are common to most computers, but the average user doesn’t realize this.)

Guay was skeptical enough to put the scammer on hold while she called a friend who Googled the situation and quickly found the scam script.

Guay shut down her computer and ended the call. A week later, the friend who had researched the scam for her got the same call.

Through social networking sites, individuals may sell items but fail to deliver after the money is transferred or may set up profiles disguised as a friend or family member in order to gain sensitive information.

Malia Frame, who graduated from Dayton last year and is currently attending WSU, nearly fell victim to an especially creative Craiglist scam, recently. Frame thought she’d found a great deal when she came across a Craiglist ad offering $400 a week, for three months, to have her vehicle wrapped in advertising for Redline energy drinks.

Frame was somewhat skeptical and called her parents who suggested that she proceed with caution. Everything seemed to be going as promised when Frame received her first check for $2,400. She was to cash the check, retain $400 as her first payment, then wire the remaining $2,000 to a detailer who would apply the advertising.

Shortly after leaving the bank, Frame got a call from the teller asking her to return the cash. The teller had attempted to verify funds and learned the check was drawn on a fake account. Had Frame wired the funds, she would have been held liable to come up with the missing money.

Even Sheriff’s wives aren’t exempt from fraud attempts. Tami Miller, wife of Columbia County Sheriff Rocky Miller, recently attempted to sell a vehicle on Craigslist and, within minutes, began receiving texts from varied, non-local, area codes.

“The texts would say something like, ‘OK with price. I’ll send cashier’s check.’ But when I told them the deal was cash only, I never heard from them again,” Miller said. “My advice is if you deal on Craigslist, be sure to deal with cash-only and meet in person,” she added.

Many bank customers, most notably those of Banner Bank and Bank of America, have recently received text messages saying there is a problem with their account and asking for their password. Banner Bank’s website offers a warning to never share personal information via email or text; especially Social Security numbers, account numbers, PINs, or login information.

Dayton’s Washington Federal Bank branch manager Judi Pilcher, who speaks regularly on elder abuse at the Dayton Senior Center, says that the elderly are often targets of fraud, especially with sweepstakes scams. She offered several tips that anyone can use to help prevent against fraud.

“I tell people not to give out any personal information over the phone. I know that can seem restrictive, but they need to call the institution directly, instead. Often scammers will already have the last four digits of a social security number or part of a credit card or bank account, adding legitimacy to the call. What they need is the rest,” Pilcher said.

She reminds clients that “nothing is free” when she hears they have received an unexpected $5,000 check in the mail. One sweepstakes entry can result in a name being sold to multiple mailing lists that are used for fraud.

Pilcher seconds the warning not to give personal information out via text, email or over the phone (unless you’ve initiated the call) even if the call or email states they are trying to “update information.”

Pilcher says to watch out for unsolicited contractors knocking at your door, people selling reverse mortgages, and credit card loss and loss prevention offers. Check the website http://www.charitywatch.org to find out if a charity is legitimate before donating, and review bank statements regularly. Thieves will often charge a $1 item to see if a card works before making larger purchases, she said.

Pilcher suggests checking credit reports at least annually at http://www.annualcreditreport.com and said that individuals can easily call and put a freeze on their report if they find out that something has been stolen. A request to wire money is always a big red flag.

Diana Frame, Malia’s mother, adds this word of caution, “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”