MANHATTAN BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT
MANHATTAN BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATIONS BUREAU
420 15th Street, Manhattan Beach, Ca. 90266 ˑ (310) 802-5120 ˑ (310) 802-5140 July 20, 2015 Eve R. Irvine Chief of Police
SCAM ALERTS
INFORMATIONAL ONLY—SCAM ALERTS SYNOPSIS: MB residents have reported the following scams: MICROSOFT TECH SUPPORT SCAM: A resident was contacted by a suspect claiming to be from Microsoft Tech Support. The suspect convinced the resident to pay thousands of dollars for the cleaning of viruses for their home computer. The Microsoft website states Microsoft and their partners do not make unsolicited phone calls to charge customers for computer security or software fixes. Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information or purchase software or services. Never give control of your computer to a third party unless you can confirm that it is a legitimate representative of a computer support team with whom you are already a customer. IRS SCAM: The Internal Revenue Service has warned about a sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers throughout the country, including residents in Manhattan Beach. Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe any taxes (for example, you’ve never received a bill or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484. GRANDCHILD SCAM: Residents have received calls from someone claiming to be their grandchild. The caller says they are in jail in a foreign country, they need money for bail and then they give instructions to send money via Western Union. Verify the whereabouts of family members before wiring any money. GOVERNMENT GRANT SCAM: Residents have received calls from someone claiming they are from the federal or government “grant association” and the person answering the phone has received a grant. The caller eventually states there is a fee that will need to be paid before they can receive the money. Grants aren’t awarded without you applying for them and the government does not charge you a fee to process a grant. Never give out your personal information or your bank account information when you did not initiate the call. To report a telemarketing scam, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov/faq/consumer-protection/submit -consumer-complaint-ftc. IF YOU ENCOUNTER A VICTIM WITH SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES, CONSIDER SHOWING THIS BULLETIN TO THAT INDIVIDUAL. THE INFORMATION COULD PREVENT THE VICTIM FROM FOLLOWING THROUGH WITH THE SUSPECTS’ DEMANDS AND SUSTAINING A LOSS.
Manhattan Beach Police Department Investigations Bureau
420 15th Street, Manhattan Beach, Ca. 90266 ˑ (310) 802-5120 ˑ (310) 802-5140 July 20, 2015 Eve R. Irvine Chief of Police
SCAM ALERTS
INFORMATIONAL ONLY—SCAM ALERTS SYNOPSIS: MB residents have reported the following scams: MICROSOFT TECH SUPPORT SCAM: A resident was contacted by a suspect claiming to be from Microsoft Tech Support. The suspect convinced the resident to pay thousands of dollars for the cleaning of viruses for their home computer. The Microsoft website states Microsoft and their partners do not make unsolicited phone calls to charge customers for computer security or software fixes. Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information or purchase software or services. Never give control of your computer to a third party unless you can confirm that it is a legitimate representative of a computer support team with whom you are already a customer. IRS SCAM: The Internal Revenue Service has warned about a sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers throughout the country, including residents in Manhattan Beach. Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe any taxes (for example, you’ve never received a bill or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484. GRANDCHILD SCAM: Residents have received calls from someone claiming to be their grandchild. The caller says they are in jail in a foreign country, they need money for bail and then they give instructions to send money via Western Union. Verify the whereabouts of family members before wiring any money. GOVERNMENT GRANT SCAM: Residents have received calls from someone claiming they are from the federal or government “grant association” and the person answering the phone has received a grant. The caller eventually states there is a fee that will need to be paid before they can receive the money. Grants aren’t awarded without you applying for them and the government does not charge you a fee to process a grant. Never give out your personal information or your bank account information when you did not initiate the call. To report a telemarketing scam, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov/faq/consumer-protection/submit -consumer-complaint-ftc. IF YOU ENCOUNTER A VICTIM WITH SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES, CONSIDER SHOWING THIS BULLETIN TO THAT INDIVIDUAL. THE INFORMATION COULD PREVENT THE VICTIM FROM FOLLOWING THROUGH WITH THE SUSPECTS’ DEMANDS AND SUSTAINING A LOSS.
Manhattan Beach Police Department Investigations Bureau
