KERR COUNTY, Texas – Scams perpetuated on your phone, email, and computer are ending with people losing thousands and thousands of dollars.
The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office is making it a priority to investigate these types of offenses as well as educate the public on prevention.
“Probably in the last year, we’ve seen maybe about $2 million in losses from our citizens just here in Kerr County,” said Lucas Flores, a digital forensic investigator at KCSO.
Lucas Flores is the digital forensic investigator for the sheriff’s office and a member of the secret service task force.
“We had a particular case not too long ago where a victim was victimized over a year and lost approximately $1,000,000 in the process,” Flores said.
Flores added that his team is seeing a troubling increase in scams, and that’s just those being reported.
“A huge increase from the past. And the scary part is that that’s just a small portion of what’s actually out there. These are just the people that are actually coming to us. What happens a lot of times is that, especially with the elderly, is that they get scammed, and then they realize it, and they get embarrassed by it, and they don’t say anything,” Flores said.
KCSO says these malicious acts are not just concentrated on one particular platform.
“Fraudulent investment schemes. So a lot of times on different social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, you’ll see a link that says get rich now,” Flores said. “they want access to your data, and they want to convince you that your computer is infected and it’s going to cost you a lot of money to fix it.”
Whether it’s on your phone, your email, or your computer pop-ups, law enforcement is reminding the public to be cautious, suspicious and take preventative measures because if you don’t, you might not be able to get your money back.
“Contact law enforcement if you think you’re a victim of a scam. The faster you get to reporting it to law enforcement, the more likely... it is we might be able to help you recover it,” Flores said.
Flores explained that these criminals are highly organized and adept at crafting scams to be as believable as possible. Double-checking with the organization sending you the notification can save you more than just money.
If you do suspect you are a victim of a scam, you can find more information here.