Greg's Corner

Scam victim arrested for scamming

By Greg Collier

It’s a rare occurrence for a scam victim to be arrested for allegedly being part of a scam, but it does happen. Typically, it happens in the reshipping scam. In those cases, scam victims can be charged with a crime if they willingly falsify shipping documentation as directed by the scammers to bypass US customs. This isn’t a story about that, but it’s just as heartbreaking.

A 71-year-old man from Des Moines, Iowa, fell victim to a police impersonation scam. It hasn’t been reported which police impersonation scam he fell for, but the scammers did pose as federal agents. It wasn’t enough to take the man’s money, as the scammers used him to pick up money from their victims. The man is said to have collected money from the scammers’ victims, and deposited the money to the scammers at a Bitcoin ATM.

The regrettable part of this story is that even after being scammed himself, the man thought he was legitimately helping federal investigators. Des Moines police even warned the man what he was doing was illegal, but the man persisted anyway. The police say they had no choice but to arrest him. The man has been charged with money laundering.

Protecting yourself from police impersonation scams involves being vigilant, informed, and cautious when dealing with any situation involving law enforcement or authority figures. Remember, legitimate law enforcement officers will not threaten you over the phone, demand immediate payments, or use aggressive tactics. Taking the time to verify the authenticity of any communication can go a long way in protecting yourself from scams.

As one investigator said, “Unless you’ve got a police officer or a legit government official standing in front of you, I wouldn’t trust anybody on that phone.”