Manitowoc (Wluk) – Be skeptical of strangers who reach out to the Internet or the phone, Manitowoc police warn.
The department says that it has seen a “spectacular increase” of scams in recent months.
In a common scheme, the crook will contact the Vicicm pretending to be someone interested in a long -distance romantic relationship. The crook will start preparing the victim by asking them to send small sums of money. The amounts requested will gradually increase and the crooks will require banking information or even personal identification information. If this does not work, the crook will request explicit photos of the victim, which will then be used as blackmail.
A second type of scam implies an appellant pretending to be a member of the local police, saying that the victim had missed a legal appearance, forgotten to pay a fine or has debts pending towards the government. The crooks are often aggressive or threatening and almost always ask for payment using gift cards or cryptocurrency. These methods make it difficult for investigators to find them, and some victims have lost significant sums.
Police also discussed the growing number of cryptocurrency automatic counters. Although machines have legitimate uses, government agencies will never ask someone to use one to pay a fine or costs. Many transactions are subject to significant costs. Police recommends anyone who is invited to send a large sum of money using a skeptical cryptographic ATM and to confirm the beneficiary of the funds.
