Scam Alerts
Tip of the Day: ALWAYS MAKE A POLICE REPORT BEFORE MAKING AN INCIDENT REPORT TO NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH.
There are three ways to report an incident to Neighborhood Watch:
- Make an online report: go to sclhwatch.org and click the Report an Incident button. (It’s OK for a Captain to write the report for someone else.) We need a name and phone number for the victim so Barry Johnson can contact them to get first-hand information. WE NEVER USE NAMES IN OUR ALERTS.
- Call Barry Johnson, NW Public Safety Liaison, at 916 434-6538
- Call Mary Cranston, Alerts Program Coordinator, at 916 434-5362
Computer Scam: A resident was using her computer when it froze, and a sign came up saying that Apple found a security problem and she was to call the number on the screen. She was normally careful, but this startled her and she called the number. The scammer told her there was a $47,000 purchase on her account and that she needed to report it to fraud department. They gave her a number which was answered stating it was the fraud department. They gave her instructions, and she finally became suspicious. She said she would call back. Instead, she went to her bank and learned everything was fine. This was an elaborate scheme but was finally avoided by not giving in to the fear.
Email Scam: An alert resident received an email pretending to be from Best Buy Geek Squad. The email stated that the annual premium for Geek Squad services had been renewed at $413 “against your registered account. The transaction will soon be reflected in your bank statement. If you did not authorize this charge, call 808 649-2957.” The 808-area code made her suspicious. The current legitimate toll-free numbers are 800, 888, 877,866,855, 844, and 833.
The resident printed out the email and took it to Best Buy where they told her that they have updated the name and the logo. It was a scam. The new name is TotalTech.
The logo still includes Geek Squad, but the name is different – see below.
