Fraud Alert

[Atrain1]

Area law enforcement agencies communicating as rash of banking fraud cases sweep Northern Colorado

By Madeline Novey Staff Writer
Posted: 10/20/2011 12:26:27 PM MDT




LOVELAND -- As the number of banking fraud cases balloon across Northern Colorado, several agencies are working together to coordinate and minimize repetition of investigative efforts.

This afternoon, Loveland Police Department Lt. Tim Brown said when faced with the sheer size of each agency's caseload -- Loveland took 173 reports of fraud between Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon -- there are discussions taking place about the need for more structured collaboration.

Between Oct. 8 and Wednesday afternoon, the Loveland Police Department has recorded between 300 and 350 complaints of banking fraud.

Inter-agency communication is currently happening via phone and email, Brown said, but "depending on needs, (the agencies) may develop this into something more formalized in the near future."

Loveland has worked with the Larimer and Weld County sheriff's offices, Berthoud and Windsor police departments and had some interaction with the departments in Johnstown and Milliken, Brown said, all of which have received reports of fraud over the past few days especially.

It is unclear at this point how many people are involved in the fraudulent activity, though Brown told the Reporter-Herald earlier this week there are indications more than one person is involved.

Authorities have asked people to watch their transactions and bank accounts closely. Any suspicious activity should be reported to a local police department -- the sooner the better, Brown said.

"Reporting is huge at this point," he said, adding that any documentation to back up claims is helpful.

People who notice suspicious activity can call the Loveland Police Department at 667-2151 or Larimer County Sheriff's Office at 416-1985. More tips to protect your identity are available on www.protectyouridnow.com or http://larimersheriff.org/site-page/...eft-prevention.

Madeline Novey can be reached at 669-5050, ext. 516, or mnovey@reporter-herald.com.

[Big Wall]

I received a text from WFOnline (I bank with Wells Fargo (whose real internet address is wellsfargo.com)) saying that my debit card had been deactivated and to call a number to have it reactivated. I don't text so I didn't even read it until days after it said my card was deactivated. My card was never deactivated so I think it was just a text to find people dumb enough to call and give out their debit card number.

[Scanker19]

Unless I'm stupid, what's the fraud?

[Atrain1]

I received a text from WFOnline (I bank with Wells Fargo (whose real internet address is wellsfargo.com)) saying that my debit card had been deactivated and to call a number to have it reactivated. I don't text so I didn't even read it until days after it said my card was deactivated. My card was never deactivated so I think it was just a text to find people dumb enough to call and give out their debit card number.

Yes it is I handle Customer service for a bank, and I deal with that type of stuff all the time.

[Jer]

Funny you post this, I had a phone call last week when I was at the gym on the stationary bike doing cardio. Turns out it was my credit card company so I decided that a conversation was relevant even though I was out of breath & still riding. They asked me about a couple charges for a few bucks here and there over the last 24hrs I knew about. I couldn't figure out why they were questioning that until they got to the the first charge in question which was a $675 attempted purchase of groceries in England. That's right, the UK and not New England as in the US. Needless to say I wasn't traveling abroad so my card was canceled and a new one was sent to me. I haven't even reported anything locally so unless my credit card company has contacted LVPD or LCSO then I'm not even part of the statistics being reported and who knows how many are like me and simply go on with life after the CC company takes care of it.

Sounds like there's a rash of that going on right now so be careful folks.

[MED]

My wife's parents were hit in a series of robberies in their neighborhood (all in one morning). All they took were documents with PII and jewelry. The collectible rifle on the dining room table along with electronics were untouched. This was a group of people and a targeted attack to gain SSNs; they got both their cards.

[Jeff350]

These a-holes are getting more and more bold. In the last few weeks my wife and I have both experienced attempted fraud.

She got a letter from "AOL" saying she was 120 days past due on her bill and that she was being sent to collections for $113. Problem is she has NEVER had AOL. She called the number (don't really know why she did) and they said "oh thats no problem we will send out a form for you to fill out and return." So we got that form and surpise, surprise, it says "provide the credit card and bank account associated with this account and we will remove the charges." Ummm, no. The letter really did look pretty official, so I'm sure people fall for it all the time.

I also recently got a call from "Wells Fargo" saying it was about fraudulent activity on my debit card. Too bad I have never had Wells Fargo.

I had my Paypal hacked about a year ago, luckily I was able to get all of those charges removed relatively easily.

These people royal tick me off.

[SAnd]

Not a bank but similar.

I've been getting emails from 'Microsoft' and 'Trend Micro' requesting passwords and user names so they could confirm the account. This has been going on for several months. Total fraud phishing.

[Lex_Luthor]

Yeah I got the Wells Fargo text too. I knew it was BS, so I just deleted it.

[sniper7]

Never give your info or click a link of an email to login. Save the sites you use to favorites and only login that way. Only call numbers you know are legit.