Sheriff Wayne Ivey Issues Scam Warning To Businesses

By  //  March 16, 2015

NEVER give Credit Card information

As part of our on-going effort to help protect our citizens against scams I wanted to remind our community about a current scam that is being circulated throughout the country.
Almost everyday Scam Artists come up with new ideas to target victims across the country with different types of fraudulent activity designed to steal our citizens hard earned money.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Almost everyday Scam Artists come up with new ideas to target victims across the country with different types of fraudulent activity designed to steal our citizens hard earned money.

As such, I want to use this week’s Crime Prevention message to talk about a scam that is currently being used to target businesses throughout Brevard County.

The scammers call businesses and pretend to be a representative of Florida Power and Light.

The calls commonly take place during the weekend when the perpetrator is confident that the owner or person who pays the bills is not working.

The caller will tell the business employee who answers the telephone that the business has not paid the power bill and as a result the power will be turned off in a matter of hours if not paid through credit card or pre-paid card.

As a result of the fraudulent call, the business often agrees to pay the amount owed to avoid having the power turned off and disrupting their ability to remain open for customers.

A prime target of choice for these types of fraudsters appears to be Restaurants as the criminals assume the business does not want to risk losing customers on a busy weekend.

To avoid becoming the victim of this type of crime at your business or even your home please keep the following steps in mind:

1. NEVER give Credit Card information to anyone who calls or emails you!

2. If you receive a call from someone alleging to be a business making demands and or threats, please hang up the telephone and have the owner or manager call the alleged business at a trusted number that was personally researched and verified.

3. Always remember that legitimate businesses never conduct themselves in this manner.

4. If you receive a call of this type, don’t continue the conversation. Hang up the telephone.

5. Don’t be fooled by the fact that the number the perpetrator is calling from is from a local area code. Today’s criminals use “spoofing” technology to make it appear the number is from a local call.

6. Regardless if the scam is being perpetrated by telephone, email, texting, or in person, the prevention method is always the same… The moment they demand or threaten that something will occur if you don’t provide immediate payment, disconnect from the conversation.

VIDEO: Sheriff Ivey Shares Phone Scam Prevention TipsRelated Story:
VIDEO: Sheriff Ivey Shares Phone Scam Prevention Tips

And of course ALWAYS call your local Law Enforcement Agency and report scams that occur at your business or home so that we can quickly investigate and alert others to the type of scam that is occurring.

Thank you for taking time to read our Weekly Crime Prevention Message and for sharing it with your family and friends so we can help protect each other.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey

Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft.

That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases. Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today.

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.

The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions.

Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection.

Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.