The Crossville-Cumberland County Crime Stoppers will host a town hall Thursday to promote scam awareness.
Crimestoppers’ Donnie Moody said scammers trick people into giving out personal information or money, to be used for quick personal gain. Moody said scammers operate by creating a sense of urgency and fear. Moody said scams used to be originate overseas, but that is no longer the case.
“Now, we’re seeing scams that are happening and originating here in the United States,” Moody said. “And so years ago, we didn’t have jurisdiction to go after those people that were scamming. Now, a lot of the scams we can go after them. So we need to get them reported so that they can be stopped and we can possibly prosecute them if they’re in the United States.”
Moody said 22 percent of Cumberland County’s population is senior citizens, the most common targets of scams. Moody said people who think they have scammed should report it to local law enforcement.
Moody said scammers might use the names of family members to create more urgency. Moody said talking about these situations is a way to defend against scams.
“Talk to your family, talk to your friends, and don’t rush into anything,” Moody said. “Scammers depend on people being quiet about it. They depend on the relationship they develop with a person and a sense of urgency to get this done quickly.”
Moody said never pay for something with a gift card or cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin. Moody said cryptocurrency scams are becoming more popular.
Moody said the best defense mechanism against scammers is education. Moody also said not to click on suspicious texts, e-mails, and websites.
“Be cautious,” Moody said. “Don’t trust anything that you get from a text message or an e-mail. Be cautious about it and research it before you send any money to anything.”
Moody said the upcoming Can You Spot a Scam town hall is going to feature detectives from multiple local and state agencies and fraud officers to provide information on the latest scams and defense tactics.
There are two Can You Spot a Scam town hall sessions on June 12 at the Palace Theater in Crossville. The first session begins at 2pm and the second is at 5pm.
