OC Sheriff’s Office issues October 2018 Scams Update

In their continuing efforts to educate and inform citizens and to prevent them from becoming victims of scams, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office is releasing the October 2018 Scams Update. The Sheriff’s Office was notified of a situation in which an individual discovered a residence online that was reportedly available for rent and even drove by the physical address and saw a For Rent sign out front. The individual contacted the reported property owner and arrangements were made to send a security deposit, which was sent. However, three additional payments were made, including one for the first month’s rent and one for attorney’s fees. The victim discovered later that the rental property was actually being overseen by an Upstate rental company and discovered someone else that appeared to be moving in. The realty company advised the victim that they were responsible for leasing the property and that the victim had been scammed. Also, the state of Texas was listed as the transfer destination on each receipt where the victim had sent money. In a similar type scam, a deputy met with a complainant in reference to finding a house to rent online and contacted the supposed owner about renting it, with the supposed owner requiring a combined $700 for a deposit as well as first month’s rent. A lease agreement was sent and was signed with the supposed owner asking for payment via Apple ITunes cards. The cards were purchased and a picture of the backs of the cards was sent to the supposed owner. This case has been forwarded to the Criminal Investigations Division. Plus, Sheriff Mike Crenshaw received word regarding a house for sale in the Westminster that is under contract with a real estate company. The family who is selling the house has been informed of two different individuals saying they were looking to rent the house based on an ad on the internet. The alleged owner said they wanted to conduct the business of the transaction through the mail and not face to face. An e-mail address of the scammer was also provided to the Sheriff as well. “After speaking to one of our investigators, we recommend that if you are interested renting a house that is available that you meet and deal with that person face to face rather than doing business by phone or e-mail and if they do not want to meet you in person, then renter beware,” says Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jimmy Watt. “You can also go online through the county website or in person at the Assessor’s Office and take a look at the county tax papers, which is considered public record, to see who is paying property taxes on the place you are looking to rent to see if there is a difference in regards as to who is paying the taxes and who is offering the place for rent. You also may want to cross reference the phone numbers that you are using to contact the person renting the property online to see if that number could possibly be a scam number. Our investigator also said that someone who is looking to rent a house, if they are doing so through a real estate agent, can check to see if that agent is licensed through the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation by going online to https://www.llr.sc.gov/POL/ResidentialBuilders/index.asp?file=pub.htm.” The Sheriff’s Office was dispatched recently to a business in the Seneca area regarding a scam in which an employee received a call from someone claiming to be from the businesses corporate office. The caller relayed to the employee that the daily deposit had not been made and to go to the bank to make the deposit. After the employee told the caller the bank was closed, the caller instructed the employee to purchase a Green Dot card, which the employee did. The employee gave the caller all the information
regarding the card so it could be activated. The deputy was provided a picture of the receipt for the purchase of the card as well as the front and back of the card as well. An attempt was made to cancel the card and obtain a refund. “As we have stated in previous scam updates, no legitimate businesses or organizations will request payment be made on a prepaid card,” says Watt. “If anyone asks you to make a payment using some type of prepaid card, use extreme caution and consider this to be a scam. Once the numbers on the back of a card are given out and money is withdrawn off the card, it can be extremely difficult if not impossible to recover money that was placed on that card.” The U.S Marshals Service issued a release recently regarding jury duty phone scams. According to the release, the scammers seek to “collect a fine in lieu of arrest for failing to report for jury duty.” The release also states that the scammers did provide badge numbers and actual names of federal judges and courthouse addresses to make the calls appear to be authentic. The scammers tell those they call that they can avoid be arrested by placing money on prepaid cards. Once that happened, they are instructed to call a number back to provide numbers on the back of the cards to process the payment. “Once again, legitimate businesses or agencies will not request payment via the use of prepaid cards,” according to Watt. “Secondly, a law enforcement officer will never ask for payment from anyone to avoid arrest on a legitimate charge or warrant. Any court costs or fines that are incurred by a subject will have to be paid directly to the court. If you receive a call stating that you have reportedly missed jury duty and payment is requested to avoid an arrest, hang up the phone and contact the law enforcement agency in your jurisdiction to file a report.”