Culpeper Police Warn Residents of Internet, Phone Scams

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Posted: 5:19 PM Jan 24, 2012 Culpeper Police Warn Residents of Internet, Phone Scams The Culpeper Police Department is warning residents of Internet and phone scams, which make the potential victim believe a relative or close friend overseas needs money to get out of trouble. Email Address: news@newsplex.com

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January 24, 2012

The Culpeper Police Department is warning residents of Internet and phone scams, which make the potential victim believe a relative or close friend overseas needs money to get out of trouble.

The most recent scam was reported Tuesday, when a man reported to police that a woman pretending to be his granddaughter was involved in a car wreck on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The female caller said that she needed a substantial amount of money wired to her for car repairs and to avoid prosecution as a result of the accident.

The victim wired more than $6,000 via Western Union, but employees in St. Croix called the Culpeper resident and told him that they thought he was being scammed as two other people had wired similar amounts to the same person on the island within 15 minutes of his transaction.

The Culpeper resident didn’t lose his money. The real granddaughter was located safe in Culpeper.

On Jan. 17, an email using the real email address of a town elected official circulated to a number of people, stating that he was in Spain and needed money after being attacked by thugs and robbed of his money and passport. The email claimed that the official wanted money for airfare home and to pay the hotel bill. The email then asked people to respond so that information about a money transfer could be arranged.

While the bogus email showed a legitimate email address for the official, a different address appeared in the reply screen if someone responded. Similar to the most recent incident, the official was not in Spain but was in Culpeper the entire time. Police believe his email account had been hacked and his address book used to send the scam email.

“We urge anyone getting these emails and phone calls to verify the whereabouts of the person whose name is being used,” said Sgt. Wayne Hickman. “Do not send money to anyone until you have checked to make sure the information is valid.”

Anyone with information regarding these scams may contact Sgt. Hickman at 540-829-5526 or anonymously call Crime Solvers at 540-727-0300, where callers never have to leave their names or testify in court to receive a cash reward.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Grace Miller on Feb 13, 2012 at 04:21 AM

I'm glad to hear the man didn't lose his money. Had the employees not told him about the possible, it would have been impossible to get his money back. I haven't gotten a call like that yet. But if ever I would, any scam call for that matter, I'd be sure to do as most people do, post the phone number at blog sites especially at consumer complaint sites such as http://www.callercenter.com so people would know. They'd be alerted.

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