By LOIS KINDLE
lekindle@aol.com
Law enforcement officials say scammers continue to target Hillsborough County residents, especially seniors or people going through hard times. Three particular forms of fraud are currently plaguing the South Shore area: the gold bar scam, Mega Millions scam and romance scam.
“We’re making gold scam arrests all over the state, most recently in Sun City Center and Bradenton,” said Hillsborough County Master Deputy Jeff Merry. “Those cases involved losses of $90,000 and $1.4 million.”
Just last week, Merry wrote about this type of fraud in his new “From the Desk of Jeff Merry” report on The Observer News website.
Recapping that post, Merry said recent reports show a growing trend in which scammers pressure victims into cashing out their savings and retirement funds, buying gold bars and handing them over to people pretending to be government officials. One case that drew widespread attention involved an 80 year old Bradenton Veteran who lost his entire $1.4 million nest egg. Investigators later linked that incident to a larger, nationwide scheme responsible for more than $6 million in losses.
The setup usually starts with an unexpected message — a call, email, text or pop up — claiming the victim’s identity has been compromised. The scammer poses as someone from a federal agency and insists that urgent action is needed.
From there, the pressure ramps up. Victims are told their Social Security number is tied to criminal activity, their bank accounts are being drained or that an arrest warrant has been issued. To make the story sound legitimate, scammers often provide fake credentials, send official looking paperwork or route the victim through multiple “agents.”
Once the victim is sufficiently alarmed, the caller instructs them to pull money from investment accounts or savings and convert it into gold bars. The scammers claim the gold will safeguard the victim’s assets or help with a confidential investigation.
The scheme ends when a courier arrives — sometimes at the victim’s home — to pick up the gold. By the time the victim realizes they’ve been deceived, the gold has vanished and is nearly impossible to recover.
“If you receive a call, message or pop up asking you to buy gold, withdraw large sums of cash or hand over valuables as part of an investigation, don’t respond,” Merry said. “Immediately reach out to local law enforcement or a trusted family member. No legitimate government agency, law enforcement office or financial institution will ever ask you to do any of those things.”
The Mega Millions scam recently bilked a Freedom Plaza resident and Kings Point resident out of $7,800 and around $18,000, respectively, Merry said.
In this scheme, scammers — impersonating lottery officials — typically make contact via email, text or social media claiming their target has won a massive jackpot through a special secondary drawing that doesn’t actually exist. They say upfront payments for taxes or fees are required to claim the prize and then ask for bank account information or make wire fund requests to cover them.
And, in a recent romance scam, a middle-aged married South Shore man lost approximately $200,000 when he was victimized in a scheme that involved his buying an $80,000 Range Rover, gift cards and cryptocurrency on behalf of the “love interest” — a scammer who had cultivated a relationship with him over time and sent him checks to cover the purchases that later turned out to be fake.
The criminal had the vehicle picked up, and the victim, who had conducted the transaction as if purchasing the vehicle himself, was subsequently arrested. As part of his sentence, the man is now required to make restitution through community outreach by publicly sharing how he was manipulated. Another cost will undoubtedly be his marriage.
The Range Rover has yet to be recovered, Merry said. Last year, Sun City Center residents alone lost $13 million to scammers, and that figure doesn’t include the many other cases reported throughout Hillsborough County. Be sure you’re not part of this year’s statistics by following this simple advice.
“Slow down and double check anything that feels off,” Merry said. “Don’t act on urgency and verify everything. If it sounds too good to be true, it’s not. And if you’re feeling pressured into doing something — especially by someone you don’t know — stop and call for help.”
For more information or to report suspicious activity, contact him at 813-242-5515.