Confidence Scams

The Jerome City Police Department is eager to inform the public of attempts to defraud citizens of their personal identity and money.

There are professional criminals contacting our citizens with promises of large proceed winnings, offers too good to be true, or even establishing a relationship through electronic communication to lure victims into their confidence.

Common Confidence Scams

Some common confidence scams include overseas lottery, inheritance, or check cashing assistance. Recent reported scams include unsolicited grant awards, distant relatives jailed or hospitalized out of the country, secret shopper job opportunity, and paying custom fees for packages coming into the United States.

These scams have defrauded personal identification and large amounts of money from multiple victims. The criminals are protected by international borders, and the inability to identify those who are responsible. Prosecution and recovery of lost money has become unattainable.

Protect Yourself

If you are contacted and directed to send large amounts of money or your personal identification overseas, please be cautious. If there is no person to person contact, you should be on the alert. Commonly confidence scams have directed victims to send money using the Green Dot cards or through Western Union.

Information about these scams and resources to report them can be found in your local bank branch. Don’t fall victim to false promises, protect yourself by staying informed.

Visit a website that will demonstrate popular scams that are frequently used to defraud people out of money.