A Cedar Rapids investigator’s advice for not falling for phone and internet scams

CEDAR RAPIDS — Phone and internet scams are rampant everywhere, and the Cedar Rapids Police Department regularly receives reports of new scams popping up in the area. Recently, a scam was reported in which the caller claimed to represent the Cedar Rapids Police Department and asked for donations to help widows and orphans.

New phone and internet scams keep popping up, according to the department, and scammers often pretend to be local businesses or even family members.

The Gazette recently talked with Investigator Brian Freeberg, from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Cedar Rapids Police Department, about what types of scams are being reported and how to avoid them.

Q: What are some of the common scams that you see?

A: We're seeing types of bank scams, where people are getting unsolicited calls from the (purported) banks, saying, “Your account’s been compromised.” They will trick the recipient of that call into giving personal information, and then those people will transfer money out of their account with that information. Some of the things, on that, that I would recommend is, if you do get a call from a bank, just call your local phone number and talk to your local bank, the number that you look up yourself. That way you know you're actually talking to somebody from your bank. Call the 800 number on the back of your card … or go directly in your bank and speak to somebody about it.

Another one we're seeing a lot is a computer takeover, where a Microsoft or similar message will pop up on your computer saying security risk. There's all sorts of different variations of this. It'll say, “Click here” or, “Call this number.” The majority of the time that's going to be a scam. I advise never to click on the pop-up or call that number. A lot of times … you can reboot the computer and that message goes away, and also update security scans. And if the problem persists, you can always take it to a local repair shop just to make sure that there's no issues.

The big thing is not to panic, because that's what gets people in trouble all the time. Just take a step back. Nothing is so bad that you need to make a decision right away. You have to verify that you're making the right decision.

There are online scams where a lot of times a lonely person will meet somebody on a chat site, and that person will pretend to be in a romantic relationship with them, or friendship, over time and convince them to send them money, or receive or send checks or cryptocurrency. That's never going to be anything legitimate.

The grandparent scam is a big one that continues to persist, where someone will call up and sometimes they have your grandchild's name and other times they will solicit it from you without you knowing, and say that this is your grandchild and I need bail money. I just got arrested. A lot of times the person will panic and get their grandchild's name repeated and then they have that, so the rest of the phone call seems more legitimate than it is. The key is, you can always get a phone number and call somebody back. Don't panic. Call your child, call your grandchild and do not provide any money. They'll actually send a courier to your house to pick up money. I've had that happen, I believe last year and the year before.

Finally, charities are a big thing we're seeing. People will call up and say this is some police association. Most of the time those are just a telemarketing thing, and your local police department isn’t going to see a dime. So, if you really want to give to your local department — we have a website for our Cedar Rapids Police Protective charity, and you can donate on there or you can come in and actually donate in person.

Q: What should people watch for in order to identify scams?

A: Usually if somebody's going to call you and ask for information, it's probably not legitimate. I like to say, take down the information, and then look up the phone number in your phone book or do your own Google search and call your own bank, or ask a family member. Don't hesitate, if you have a question, to call the police department and we can advise if we believe that's a scam. Just don't panic, is the big thing.

Another thing they'll do with the banks is, if you go into your local banks, for instance, and you're taking out $10,000 for a grandparents scam, somebody at the bank is going to pick it up. The scammers will actually tell you, “We've had some dirty employees at the bank, so don't let them know what's going on.” Or they’ll tell the grandparent, “Just tell them you're giving money to your grandkid or you're giving money to your kid or you're getting a new roof put on your house.” Bankers will often question these people and they'll be told by the scammer not to give the truth.

Q: How hard is it as police to track down these scammers?

A: Some of them are very hard, especially the online ones because you could be dealing with somebody in another state. You could be dealing with somebody in another country. It's very hard to track, especially for a local police department, to find out where that's from. Even if we can discover the IP address they're using, it's from a different state or country, and they can use a public Wi-Fi or a fake phone number and they're extremely difficult to follow up on.

Q: Have there been any local scams that you have been able to track down?

A: We’re not seeing a lot of local scams. Like I mentioned, with that grandparent scam, they actually send local people to the area that they hire to go act as a courier and pick up money from the grandparents. … We catch somebody in the act, one of those couriers, either last year or the year before. That's all I'm typically seeing as far as someone local actually involved.

Q: Are there specific demographics that are targeted, or are the calls usually random?

A: I think it's random calls, and I believe a lot of them, from my experience, have been landline calls. Not to generalize here, but some of the older generation doesn't want to give up the landline that they've had for several years. And I think that's what they prey on. I think it's one of those where they just call enough people and it only takes one to pay off to make it worth their while.

Q: Is there anything else that you would add?

A: If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Take a step back. There's nothing that you can't get a phone number from somebody, if it's legitimate, and call them back and do your homework. If your bank account’s compromised, most of the time the bank is going to reimburse you anyway. So, take your time and don't get rushed into anything.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com