Winter 2016 Breaking News……….. From The Butler Co Crimes Against the Elderly Task Force The 12 Frauds of Christmas, the Scammer Gave to Me... 12 Counterfeit items—Be careful when purchasing brand name items, especially when sold at deep discounts. Some examples include Coach and Michael Kors, as well as many athletic brands. 11 Phone Scams—During the holiday season there is an uptick of phony phone calls; Grandparent’s Scam, IRS, Travel & Microsoft tech support just to name a few. 10 Fake Charities—To determine the legitimacy of a charity, you can check its name & reputation at the Wise Giving Alliance website, www.give.org. 9 Fraudulent Credit Card Charges—With the switch to chip-enabled EMV cards, identity thieves are moving to opening new fraudulent accounts with stolen Social Security numbers. 8 Bogus Romances—Beware of someone you meet online who immediately wants to start communi- cating through personal email or text messaging. 7 Travel Scams—Phony offers of accommodations with too-good-to-be-true prices snowball during the holiday vacation season. 6 E-cards with Malware—Around the holidays, a very common ploy for cyber criminals is to send fake e-greeting cards with malicious files attached. Opening that e-card may lead to your bank account being emptied. 5 Phishing Scams—Phishing email messages are designed to steal your identity. They may appear to come from your bank, Microsoft, or from someone in your email address book. If you are unsure who sent the email, don’t open it. 4 Shady Resellers—Every year, holiday shoppers fight over those “must have” items. When stores sell out, often times you can find them on Craigslist or Ebay for an exorbitant price. Beware of the scam- mers who will take your money, but never send you the merchandise. 3 Fake Websites—It is very easy to recreate a website. Look for red flags such as unsecure URL ad- dresses, http instead of https. Never pay with money grams or wire money. 2 Temporary Holiday Jobs—Advertised online, these applications are designed to harvest your per- sonally identifiable information and often ask for that skeleton key to your finances: the Social Security number. 1 Identity Theft While Shopping—While you’re struggling at the mall with lots of bags, identity thieves see an opportunity to steal your wallet. ID thieves are also hard at work trying to steal your identity online. Place all packages and valuables in your trunk. Information from Better Business Bureau website: http://www.bbb.org/upstate-new-york/ THETHE STORIESSTORIES YOUYOU AREARE ABOUTABOUT TOTO READREAD AREARE TRUE.TRUE. Page 2 pretty bad wind and rain before doing your re- She was outside working storm and her parent’s search. in her front yard when roof had suffered dam- Boswell approached her. For more information on aged. They contacted He explained that she hiring a reputable con- needed the end of her their insurance company tractor visit the Federal and received a check for Trade Commission’s website driveway fixed and he $6,400 for a new roof at www.consumer.ftc.gov/ could do it for her right that they in turn signed then. While he was talk- 0242-hiring-contractor. over to the “contractor”. ing with her, 2 guys who Once the contractor had were with Boswell started TRENTON, OH their money, the couple the job. They haphazard- never saw him again. ly poured the blacktop A Chicago man was sen- Fortunately for them, the and didn’t complete the tenced on Nov. 1, 2016, Prosecutor’s investigators job correctly. As soon as by Judge Pater for scam- were able to track down they finished, Boswell ming a Trenton senior the perpetrators and the immediately demanded out of almost $40,000. couple got their money payment for services that He was given probation back. They were very Lilly didn’t authorize. and ordered to pay back lucky because most of the Even though Lilly didn’t the entire amount within time the money is never want them to do the 5 years, otherwise he will recovered. Here’s a few Open Door Insert work, she felt obligated serve 3 years in prison. Fraud! things that could have to pay. She lead James Asst. Butler County Pros- tipped them off to the into her home to get her ecutor Gloria Sigman told SCAM: checkbook so she could the court that the investi- pay him, but Lilly could- The contract was visi- FAIRFIELD, OH gation revealed that n’t see clearly to write the bly altered and had 2 James Boswell of West $100,000 went directly check. Lilly was very different company Chester, has a history of to Mr. Hall, and another trusting, so she signed names on it. The per- scamming the elderly and $356,000 was wired to the check and gave it to petrators were using a getting away with it. But Costa Rica, involving a Boswell to fill in the reputable company’s that’s not happening in total of 16 elderly victims. amount. However, before contract that they had Butler County. He has Prosecutors in counties he wrote the check, he carelessly changed. pled guilty to a Felony 5 where the other 15 vic- looked in the check regis- The couple gave the for scamming a 97 year tims live have been noti- ter to see how much contractor payment in old woman out of $3,490. fied and can proceed on money she had and full before the job ever Thanks to Detective Bri- behalf of those victims. cleaned her out except for started. Never pay a an Rednour and Asst. $200. Later that day, contractor a large Prosecutor Gloria Sigman Lilly’s niece came to amount in advance. who not only convicted check on her and Lilly Give them a reasona- this fraudster, but is get- HAMILTON, OH told her what happened. ble down payment and ting the victim her money She didn’t know how A call came through the the rest when the job back. much he had written the SCAM hotline from the is complete. daughter of an elderly The way it happened is check for, so her niece This was a door-to- Hamilton couple. She pretty typical of this type contacted the bank to get door solicitation. The was afraid her parents of scam. Boswell, a a copy of the check. couple signed the con- had been SCAMMED by “blacktop” contractor When they found out he tract on the spot with- a contractor who drove around until he had taken most of her out getting any refer- knocked on their door found his elderly victim; money, the niece contact- ences or any other and told them they need- we’ll call her Lilly. Lilly is ed the police. The officers written estimates. ed a new roof. Hamilton 97 years young, healthy, took the report and Det. Never sign anything had just been through a but has trouble seeing. THETHE NAMESNAMES WEREWERE CHANGEDCHANGED TOTO PROTECTPROTECT THETHE ELDERLY.ELDERLY. Page 3 Page 3 Rednour was assigned concerned about her all, Helen was only 68 and a half. They thought the case. He talked to mother Helen. She ex- and had a long life ahead they were paying for re- Lilly and she could tell plained that her mother of her. Now, after several hab and medical bills, but him exactly what hap- had recently lost her hus- months of a very strained as it turns out Jordan had pened, but she couldn’t band, 8 months prior, an and volatile relationship used most of it to support identify the thieves. Her d was vulnerable and with her mother, Helen his heroin habit. Jordan vision just wasn’t good emotionally unstable. texted Sarah and in- went to great lengths to enough. Det. Rednour The daughter , we’ll refer formed her that she had con Grandma and Grand- didn’t have a lot of hope to as Sarah, stated that left the area to drive pa, even calling them and in catching these guys, Helen was contacted by across the country to Las posing as a Psychiatrist but fortunately for Lilly an online predator soon Vegas and San Diego. She requesting more money she had a caring neighbor after setting up her Face- claimed to be with family for him to stay in an in- who watched out for her. book account. Since then members, but Sarah dis- house drug treatment While the two were work- she has wired him over covered otherwise. Ap- program. In a more unu- ing on Lilly’s driveway, $150,000 under the parently, her mother nev- sual situation, Grandma her neighbor approached guise of a loan that would er left. Helen still believes them and asked for their be paid back with interest that the online predator business card because he when he was paid for a is real and there is a pot needed some concrete business deal worth $3.5 of gold at the end of the work done. They tried to million. He claimed the rainbow waiting for her imply they new Lilian, $150,000 was for taxes. in Las Vegas. The sad but the neighbor knew He told Helen that he truth is that when she fi- better because anyone was going to deposit the nally realizes she has who knew Lilly called her entire $3.5 million into been scammed, she will Lilly, not Lilian. The de- her bank account and have gone through all of and Grandpa had sepa- tective was able to put to- they would get married her money, and suffered rate checking accounts, gether a line-up and and live happily ever af- yet another broken heart.