Scams are ever present in Clark County, requiring residents to be skeptical of strange or too-good-to-be-true interactions.
The FBI and Clark County Sheriff’s Office both warned of a recent wave of phone scams targeting Northwest residents.
The sheriff’s office said on Facebook in May that scammers were impersonating deputies and sergeants, even using the name Sgt. Chris Skidmore, the agency’s public information officer.
“They’re claiming to be me, asking for people to call them back,” Skidmore said.
Victim reporting
If you believe you have been a victim of a cryptocurrency scheme or other fraudulent scheme, please file a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
Scammers look at public information to find the names of real employees of the sheriff’s office. Skidmore is often quoted in the media.
“They’ll call and sound very official,” Skidmore said. The scammers say they need to talk about a serious matter either over the phone or in a voicemail.
The sheriff’s office often calls people but will not ask for money and will never indicate money can be paid in lieu of arrest, Skidmore said.
Scammers often ask victims to deliver cryptocurrency or gift cards so that money can’t be tracked.
“Those should be the final red flags,” Skidmore said. Often, these law enforcement scams end in callers threatening arrest.
The scam impersonating the sheriff’s office has died down over the past month, Skidmore said. But he encourages residents to be vigilant.
Anyone who receives a suspicious call from someone claiming to be from a law enforcement agency can call into a nonemergency dispatch line — 311 — and ask for whoever they were speaking to.
“Definitely take some of those steps to protect yourself,” Skidmore said.
And the sheriff’s office will never ask for a Social Security number, though it may ask for dates of birth, names, phone numbers or addresses to verify identity. Many of those interactions, however, will be done in person, Skidmore said.
If you don’t feel comfortable telling an officer personal information over the phone, offer to meet them at the agency or in a neutral location.
A Gallup poll from November found 15 percent of households in the U.S. have had someone fall prey to a scam in the past year and either sent money to a scammer or provided access to a financial account. The poll said 8 percent of respondents were victims.
Cryptocurrency recovery scams
The FBI issued a warning earlier this week for a scheme targeting people who have already been victims of cryptocurrency scams.
The latest scam involves fraudsters posing as lawyers on social media or other messaging platforms, claiming to represent law firms that offer recovery services. The law firms are fake.
The FBI said the scammers may request victims verify their identity by providing personal or banking information, providing an amount they’re seeking to recover, paying up-front fees, directing victims to make payments for back taxes, or referencing actual banks or money exchanges.
The agency advised people to be wary of advertisements for cryptocurrency recovery services.
“Law enforcement does not charge victims a fee for investigating crimes,” the agency’s statement said.
The agency advised people to contact the local FBI field office — in Clark County, that would be the Seattle field office — to verify the identity of anyone claiming to be with the agency.
Waves of scams
Scams tend to hit the community in waves and often repeat. The sheriff’s office warned of a similar law enforcement phone scam in January 2023. And a scam earlier this year targeted Clark County residents, claiming they missed jury duty and must provide private information and payment to avoid jail time.
“Clark County courts would never ask residents for money over the phone,” Clark County Superior Court Administration said in February.
Another scam hit in February, this time targeting small businesses. Scammers posed as Clark Public Utilities employees demanding prepaid Visa cards to avoid having power disconnected.
Skidmore said there’s likely no long-lost relative looking to give someone millions of dollars. And he warned residents to be wary of people claiming to be relatives asking for money online.
“Just be cautious out there,” Skidmore said. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
