PANAMA CITY — Dear lucky winner, we are pleased to inform you that you have won a huge sum of cash in a lottery you never entered in a country you’ve been visited.
Ever wondered who responds to those emails? They’re so obviously scams, right?
But people want to believe it, said Investigator Paul Vecker with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Vecker investigates scams and frauds.
“All they become is a big loser, and that’s the tragedy,” Vecker said.
In the past few months, Bay County residents have fallen victim to scams and lost tens of thousands of dollars, Vecker said. In an effort to keep Bay Countians from falling victim to such scams, Vecker, who investigates frauds and scams, and Investigator Craig Romans, who investigates financial crimes, will lead an identity theft seminar Thursday.
“We have been working tirelessly at efforts to educate community to avoid getting ripped off,” he said.
United States citizens lost $50 billion — that is billion with a b — to scam artists overseas last year, Vecker said. That’s compared to around $100 million a year in the late 90s, Vecker said.
“It’s getting worse every day, and that is the concern that we in law enforcement have,” he said.
In the vast majority of these cases, the money the victims send to bail their grandson out of a Hungarian jail or as a down payment on a car for sale on Craigslist end up in the hands of people in foreign countries. Once it’s gone, there’s no way Vecker can ever get it back.
“Over 90 percent of the time the people who commit these scams, you can’t even locate them,” Vecker said.
Older people are generally more susceptible to these scams, Vecker said. Someone who has worked hard their whole life and built a solid credit rating, in many cases, would sooner send a check for a couple hundred bucks to someone who claims they haven’t paid an electric bill than actually verify they owe the money because they want to protect their credit score.
“The elderly in our country are the big target of these scams,” he said. “It’s becoming a big problem; as the population of this country gets older, we expect an increase” in frauds and scams.
Vecker and Romans wrote the book on scam prevention, literally. “Scams and Scammers: The Great American Ripoff,” which Vecker and Romans co-authored, will be released soon, Vecker said.
But Thursday the investigators will be sharing what they know about the various frauds and scams they’ve encountered, the most common targets and victims, the scope of the problem and the steps people can take to minimize their risk of becoming a victim in a free seminar at First Baptist Church.
The seminar will last about 60 to 90 minutes and Romans will take questions from attendees afterwards. The seminar is free of charge and open to the public.
WANT TO GO?
-What: BCSO seminar on identity theft, scams and scammers
-Where: First Baptist Church, 640 Harrison Ave., Panama City
-When: Thursday at 6 p.m.
-Cost: Free and open to the public