Many Stafford residents fraud victims
Stafford County Falmouth District Supervisor Meg Bohmke and Stafford School Board Member Scott Hirons called a Town Meeting to discuss issues facing the area – namely the large uptick in the number of fraud and scam cases being committed.
Twenty residents, Stafford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Bruce Benson, County staff and staff from the Sheriff’s Department gathered at Falmouth Elementary to speak about the increase.
“The other reason that I wanted to have a meeting was that I am the Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, and our fraud and financial crime in Stafford County has really gone up. And it’s not just hitting older people – its hitting everybody across the board,” Bohmke said, continuing, “The first question I asked was, ‘How many of you have been the target of what you believe may be fraud crime?’ and everybody in the room raised their hand.”
These frauds, which typically take place over email or by phone, have included individuals posing as Microsoft, the IRS and even family members in need.
“[The criminals] are becoming much smarter, and much craftier in what they’re doing. It’s very difficult, according to Sheriff Jett, to pinpoint these people because a lot of them are out of the country,” Bohmke commented.
Both the Sheriff’s Department and Bohmke urged citizens to be careful with their financial information.
“You just have to be very careful and whenever anybody is asking you for information about your debit card, or your pin, or any of your personal information, you cannot give that out,” Bohmke said.
The Stafford Sheriff’s Department currently has a webpage on their site that lists all of the known scams taking place in the area, and they are urging citizens to report incidences of potential fraud.
“The reality with scams is if it seems too good to be true – it’s not true. If there’s any concerns, we tell people to contact us. A deputy will respond and take a report, and we will investigate,” said Bill Kennedy, the Information Officer for the Stafford County Sheriff’s Department.
