Scams on rise during holidays; law officers urging caution

    Three out of four U.S. consumers have experienced or been targeted by at least one form of fraud that can be tied to the holidays, according to new research by AARP’s Fraud Watch Network.
    Imperial Police Chief Ryan Wisnieski advises local consumers the most common forms of attempted fraud they may encounter are the solicitations on the phone for charities.
    A caller will ask for monetary donations to some charity a person may or may not have heard of. Wisnieski advises that if you want to contribute to charities do so on your own initiative by contacting one your choice first.
    Wisnieski added the types of crimes encountered in the bigger communities, like packages stolen from door steps, thefts from unattended vehicles or house break-ins generally don’t happen in Imperial.
    Imperial is a close knit community, according to Wisnieski, where many citizens interact frequently and are in many volunteer activities. If a group of people or even a single individual were to target Imperial for some quick in and out criminal activity, they would be spotted quickly as being out of place.
    “The police department receives calls from citizens frequently informing us of potential suspicious persons or activity,” he said.
    Chase County Sheriff Kevin Mueller reiterated the most common attempted holiday scam encountered locally will be by way of telephone contact.
    Tracing back the origin of such calls is difficult due to technology, he said.
    “When we receive citizen complaints on those calls we at the sheriff’s office will call the number in question and attempt contact with them,” he said.
    Other phone scams potentially encountered during the holidays are where a younger caller will call elderly people and claim to be a grandchild in trouble with the law. The caller will solicit for money to be sent for bail.
    “Do not send money or credit card information to an unknown source,” he said.
    More shopping on the internet has resulted in creative methods of theft and fraud.
    Some red flags for consumers who become suspicious of transactions are if payment is something unusual, like gift cards instead of cash, or more than usual personal information is being asked for.
    Another unexpected scam encountered from internet use is when a computer is showing a block on the screen with a message like “Your computer is locked, do not shut off, call this number to unlock your computer.”
    If the number is called, you will be navigated into allowing access to the computer and then be asked to provide credit card information to unlock your computer. If encountering this scam, simply shut off the computer a moment and the problem will go away.
    Crypto currency is also becoming prolific in transactions and scams are rising. Currently there are few regulations in transactions and transfers are not conducted through familiar means like banks. Therefore, if conducting business through crypto currencies be very familiar with everything that is involved with it, officials recommend.