Officers from the 102nd and 106th precincts are ramping up efforts against telephone scams soliciting money from vulnerable residents. File Photo
Telephone scams have become a top priority for cops at the 102nd and 106th precincts in southern Queens, with senior citizens being one of the more vulnerable demographics in the schemes.
Cops said scammers have been targeting senior citizens by telephone, calling them and finding creative ways to solicit money and using financial or legal threats to get their way. And to the average resident, a call like that could be intimidating enough to work, police said.
The 102nd Precinct community affairs bureau sent out an advisory detailing criminal scams involving Green Dot Money Pak cards, which cops said have focused on people looking to buy cars off Craig’s List.
“Interested buyers are told to send payment using Green Dot Money Pak cards to purchase the advertised vehicle,” the precinct said. “Buyers and sellers email back and forth until the buyer sends payment using the Green Dot card. The buyer never gets the vehicle and never hears from the seller again. Their money is lost.”
The precinct said residents asked to make payments using a Green Dot card should disconnect from all correspondence with the alleged criminals.
In the 106th Precinct, Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff said one specific scam was targeting senior citizens and posing as International Revenue Service business. In these schemes, the criminals supposedly threatened a specific amount of money with the threat of an immediate arrest if funds are not dispersed.
What made these scams cross a line in the eyes of the precinct, cops said, was how the alleged scammers would rope the 106th Precinct into the threat and say police officers would be coming to their homes if they do not pay up.
Moving forward, officers said anyone received phone calls or emails requesting payment – especially with such urgency – should immediately hang up and alert authorities immediately.
The 106th Precinct also had its issues with the Green Dot card scams.
According to the NYPD, the perpetrator will call a potential victim and identify themselves as a “marshal” from a government agency, including the Internal Revenue Service or the New York State lottery, as well as from ConEd, Keyspan, or Publishers’ Clearing House. The scammer will then tell the victim that they owe them thousands of dollars and they have 30 minutes to pay the outstanding balance or they will be arrested or deported.After making this false threat, the perpetrator then directs the victim to purchase a reloadable debit card, such as the Green Dot Money Pack cards, and orders him or her to load money on it and provide the transaction numbers located on the back of the card over the phone for payment.
For more information, please call the 106th Precinct at (718) 845-2223 or email 106Precinct@NYPD.org.
By Phil Corso
