May 29, 2019 (Sacramento) - California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced today judgments totaling $1,498,574 in a lawsuit against telemarketers who scammed investors. The company, Consumer Rights Legal Services (CRLS), and four individuals, including CRLS’s president and owner, James Davitt, cheated more than 150 victims by offering bogus “investment recovery services” that they claimed would recover money victims had lost from previous investments. Many of the victims were elderly and had already lost hundreds of thousands of dollars from previous schemes.
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September 20, 2018 (La Mesa)-- On Friday, a Helix Water District customer reported that she received phone calls from someone wanting her credit card information so they could lower her interest rates. The Caller ID on the customer’s phone identified the caller as Helix Water District, but the district warns, “These calls are not coming from Helix Water District. Under no circumstances will a Helix employee ask for your credit card number, over the phone or in person.”
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April 12, 2018 (San Diego) - Don’t fall for it if someone claiming to work at the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department calls you on the phone and tells you to pay up or you’ll go to jail.
The Sheriff’s Department advises you to hang up because it’s a scam. No Sheriff’s employee would ever contact a member of the public by phone to demand payment. The way the con works is criminals tell people they have an outstanding warrant for their arrest — or that they have a summons for them to appear in court for missing jury duty service. The criminal might even use the name of a real Sheriff’s deputy which they can easily find by doing an internet search. Another trick is they might use Caller ID spoofing, which makes it appear that the call is coming from a Sheriff’s facility. Don’t let those details convince you its real.
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December 8, 2016 (San Diego) – A Santee chiropractor’s office has alerted us to a scam in which a caller posing as a San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) representatives tells the business that a utility bill is past due and tricks them into paying money. The scammers even set up a call-back phone number that they answer as SDG&E, but it’s a hoax, the company warns.
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June 13, 2016 (Sacramento) - The California Energy Commission has a toll-free Renewable Call Center to help the public with information but this resource has been compromised.
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June 15, 2015 (San Diego)—The San Diego Sheriff has issued this alert regarding scammers targeting the elderly in our region:
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Local news in the public interest is more important now than ever, during the COVID-19 crisis. Our reporters, as essential workers, are dedicated to keeping you informed, even though we’ve had to cancel fundraising events. Please give the gift of community journalism by donating at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate.
January 16, 2013 (San Diego) – The San Diego Sheriff is warning the public to beware of phone scammers posing as members of the Sheriff’s Department. There are at least two separate scams. One involves canceling arrest warrants or court appearances for a fee. The other scam entails notifying the victim that they have won a prize, then asking for payment for taxes. Scroll down for details.
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Local news in the public interest is more important now than ever, during the COVID-19 crisis. Our reporters, as essential workers, are dedicated to keeping you informed, even though we’ve had to cancel fundraising events. Please give the gift of community journalism by donating at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate.
FTC offers tips on how to avoid falling victim to phone fraudsters
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Local news in the public interest is more important now than ever, during the COVID-19 crisis. Our reporters, as essential workers, are dedicated to keeping you informed, even though we’ve had to cancel fundraising events. Please give the gift of community journalism by donating at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate.
January 16, 2013 (San Diego) – The San Diego Sheriff is warning the public to beware of phone scammers posing as members of the Sheriff’s Department. There are at least two separate scams. One involves canceling arrest warrants or court appearances for a fee. The other scam entails notifying the victim that they have won a prize, then asking for payment for taxes. Scroll down for details.
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