Police Chief: Eureka Seeing an Increase in Scams

Eureka's Police Chief is warning citizens to be aware of potential scams in the wake of an uptick in fraud targeting the city's residents. 

In a message posted on the city's website, Chief Michael Wiegand said schemes aimed at parting innocent victims from their money are reported throughout the year, but added "unfortunately, the City of Eureka is starting to see an increase in these types of crimes."

Wiegand outlined the typical forms such scams take and said they are most often done via e-mail or regular mail, or by phone. 

"Mail scams are usually letters that request all of your contact and/or personal information be sent to someone," Wiegand wrote. "The letter will often state that they have millions of dollars in a foreign bank account and they want to work with you to send the money to America. In exchange for your assistance, they will guarantee the recipient of the letter millions of dollars."

The most common variant of this is a notification of fake lottery earnings, usually with an address somewhere in Canada, according to Wiegand. 

While this tactic may be obvious to some, such attempts do find victims and it's important to make sure everyone in your family is aware. In a series of cases in Chesterfield last year, several elderly residents were tricked into wiring money to Mexico, supposedly to help a grandson or other relative who had been stranded in the country.

Wiegand elaborated on two other common scams:   

Mail scams are usually letters that request all of your contact and/or personal information be sent to someone. The letter will often state that they have millions of dollars in a foreign bank account and they want to work with you to send the money to America. In exchange for your assistance, they will guarantee the recipient of the letter millions of dollars.

Phone scams frequently involve an unidentified person calling and demanding you give the caller confidential information. They will often claim they are a credit card company or a debt collection agency.

I would encourage everyone to delete any e-mails they receive if they do not know who the e-mail came from. If someone calls you on the phone and you do not know who they are, simply end the conversation by hanging up the phone.

Please note that the situations previously mentioned are just a few of the scams that are currently being used by criminals. We advise everyone to not give out their personal information over the phone or through the mail to people or companies that they are not familiar with.

It is also imperative that citizens do not send money or share their bank account information with unknown entities. If you have any questions about these scams feel free to contact the Eureka Police Department or visit the FBI website at www.fbi.gov