TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Technical support scams can happen to anyone, but according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department (PCSD), about 60% of the victims are elderly.
PCSD recently helped a 62-year-old man from Green Valley get back $53,000 after he fell victim to a tech support scam.
Detective Santiago Hernandez, from the PCSD Financial Crimes & Fraud Unit, says it all started from what the man thought was a text from Bank of America, following instructions to close his account.
“So he made two withdrawals, one of $25,000 and one of $28,000," said Hernandez.
Detective Hernandez says the man was then instructed to mail the money in two separate boxes to a home in Florida, and became suspicious after he was told to throw away receipts.
After he contacted authorities, PCSD was able to work with U.S. Postal Inspectors and stop the boxes in New Mexico.
“It was brought back to Tucson and we were able to give the individual his money back," said Hernandez.
Detective Hernandez said so far this year, there were about 550 scams reported and 260 of those have to do with tech support scams.
In 2024, the PCSD had about 1,500 scam cases.
“So we think the number has gone down drastically only because we go out and do fraud presentations to the community," Hernandez said. "So we try and educate the community on these types of cases and we think the word is getting out. We do 50 of these throughout Tucson. We do them in the city, in the county, we've even done them out of county."
He says if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
“If someone wants you to pay with a credit card or a green dot card, that's definitely a scam. Especially if they're trying to keep you on the phone," Hernandez continued. "They use urgency. You know, they try to make it a family member depending on what kind of scam it is. With these tech scams it’s more geared towards your bank accounts.”
He says your bank already has your information, so it's a red flag if you receive a message or call with someone asking for it. Do not click links texted to you and if scammers call, hang up right away and call your bank or better yet, go in person.
Pima County is also alerting residents about invoicing scams.
There have been scam invoices using the county logo.
Pima County reminds businesses they will only request fee or bill payments through their permitting system.
According to Pima County Development Services, "These invoices may use official County branding, a legitimate-looking email address, and even the names of real County employees. If an invoice includes misspelled words, is sent from an email address that does not end in 'pima.gov,' or refers to a request that was not made by the recipient, then it may have been sent by a scammer."
If anyone receives a call from someone claiming to be a county employee and are uncertain whether it is genuine, you can go to Pima.Gov, look up the department, and call the phone number on the page to verify that the call was real.
Pima County says Individuals can also call 520-724-9999 and explain the situation to the County operator, who will seek to verify whether the call is indeed from the county.
Any attempted fraud should be reported to local law enforcement.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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