Sonoma resident Janet Connor thought she received a call from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office for missing a grand jury selection — but the person who called her was attempting to get her personal information — one of many scams recorded by law enforcement in recent years.
As the internet has evolved to include social media and online banking transactions, so have the tactics scammers use to profit off of unsuspecting victims. And the self-isolation of the pandemic only exacerbated the trend, according to federal statistics.
There was a 45% increase in identity theft and fraud reports from 2019 to 2020, resulting in losses of more than $200 billion more than the previous year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Many scams go unreported, as the victim feels ashamed to seek help. True loses are expected to surpass $720 billion in 2021.
While the Sonoma County Sheriff’s office does not separate fraud online versus fraud in-person, there were 95 cases total reported to law enforcement in Sonoma Valley between March 1, 2020 and February 10, 2022. In the year prior, there was 107 incidents of fraud reported.
FBI Assistant Special Agent Sid Patel, who works in white-collar crimes, said such scams often target the elderly, who typically have accrued more savings and can be less internet-savvy than the general public, making them the perfect targets for scammers.
“How it changed with the pandemic, you’ve got more people at home. You had the stock…
