West Point Police work to educate residents about the dangers of scam calls
WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – Phone and online scams are becoming more common. They are also difficult to investigate and prosecute.
That’s why the West Point Police Department is trying to get ahead of the scammers and educate area residents.
The department has been getting reports of sweepstakes and lottery scams, and scammers posing as loved ones.
Sometimes they are easy to spot. If they tell you you won a sweepstakes that you didn’t enter, or if the caller said you have to put up money to claim the prize or pay fees, those are pretty good signs that it’s a scam.
High-pressure tactics are another.
And most scams aren’t a one-time deal. Once scammers have your information, they will often try to strike again, or they may sell your information to others.
“If you know you have loved ones that are vulnerable, you know, including the elderly, the young, the challenged, you know, educate them, you know, have them give you a call if they seem suspicious. You know, trust your instincts. If your instincts are telling you that this seems like it’s something bad, normally your instincts are telling you right,” said West Point Chief Michael Edwards.
“And, it’s hard for us to prosecute those people, because they’re overseas somewhere, sitting behind a desk, behind a wall, and once we track ’em down, if they’re across the country, or, you know, out of the country, it’s hard to put hands on ’em. And we have to do so much to get your information back, get your funding back, if we are able to get it back,” said Assistant Chief Harold Harris.
Even though these are difficult cases to prosecute, West Point has investigators working them. They said call your local law enforcement first, get the investigation started. Then, report the crimes to the Federal Trade Commission.
