By Brittany Kelley BUDA — Over the past several weeks, the Buda Police Department has received reports involving a phone scam, which has left at least half a dozen victims in the city out of money.
According to BPD Community Affairs Officer Freddy Erdman, these phone scams are a form of voice phishing, or vishing, Erdman noted that the hallmarks of vishing essentially include putting people into a situation where they feel vulnerable enough to give up these details.
The calls Buda residents, and in some cases other Hays County residents, have received all vary, explained Erdman, but share the similar aspect of a call from an alleged Hays County deputy, stating that a warrant has been issued in connection with failure to appear for a jury. It is then that a payment — “getting whatever they can,” said Erdman — is asked through Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or a wire transfer, lest they’ll be arrested.
There is also another version, which states that there is a “make and maintain order,” which Erdman stated does not exist, so if met with this, the individual should immediately hang up.
“We’re investigating it to the best of our ability. These are difficult crimes to investigate for various reasons, but the main thing we’re trying to do is inform the general public and make them aware,” he said. “We need people to know that law enforcement will never call and ask for money over the phone … We don’t take money from people, period. That’s handled by other entities, municipal courts and using legitimate payment options, not bitcoin or cryptocurrency.”
Regarding vishing calls in general, not just the ones Buda residents have received, there are several red flags to consider:
• Requesting money using obscure payments
• Asking for personal identifying information, such as social security number, date of birth and login credentials for an account
• Presenting offers that seem “too good to be true”
• Sending a link after a phone call to fill out, which would then put malicious information on the device Often, these calls are used to gain other information to conduct cyber-attacks and escalate into full fraud. Similarly, the numbers are regularly spoofed, meaning that the number has been switched to look as though it is the number for the Hays County Sheriff's Office: “If you don’t know the number or you think it’s fishy, hang up. Don’t engage,” said the community affairs officer.
If a community member believes that they have received a scam call, they should contact BPD at 512-312-1001 or HCSO at 512-393-7896. If money has been sent, financial institutions should be contacted, along with the three credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax — to place an alert on their account. Afterwards, Erdman stated that the individual should stay vigilant and monitor their bank accounts for fraudulent activity or any kind of hacking.
