Reminder ... if it is too good to be true, than your probably being scammed!
Recently, police took a fraud complaint where a person was contacted by a friend saying she had won money and only had to send in a couple thousand dollars to receive it. The person was going to send in the money just like her friend to receive her winnings. Fortunately, police were tipped off about the alleged scam and were able to intervene before the person sent out the money.
The investigation revealed the person was contacted through Facebook messenger from a fake Facebook account. The fake account was set up using the same name and photos from the friend's real account. The only way to determine if the account was fake was to examine the details closely, one of them being the account was recently set up in the past month.
This is a reminder to all Facebook users to search Facebook to see if an account is setup in your name with your photos. If so, you can report the account to Facebook as being fake.
During the above investigation, police also learned a non-profit organization recently prevented a person from being scammed on Craigslist. The person responded to an ad to rent a house in Door County, as the owner had to suddenly leave, but they were requesting money be wired immediately to secure the rental. The non-profit organization was immediately tipped off by the wire transfer and told the person to not send the money. Further investigation by the organization fond the rental house was for sale, but when contacting the realtor, the owners were still occupying the house.
It is common for scammers to post rental ads on Craigslist, offering a good deal on houses for sale. However, if you don't know the person, can't meet them in person or have to wire money, it is likely a scam. For tips on how to avoid these scams, please read:
If anyone feels or does not know if they are being scammed, do not send the money and contact your local law enforcement agency. Often, police can determine if the situation at hand is a scam and save you from loosing your hard earned money. If the money is sent, and then police determine you were scammed, in most cases we can not get your money back or even identify who the perpetrator is.
