Sheldon, Iowa — Sheldon Police were kept busy Tuesday handling reports of scams that have been perpetrated against Sheldon residents.
Sheldon Police Chief Lyle Bolkema tells KIWA that Sheldon residents were targeted Tuesday with a variety of scams that were attempted against them.
Bolkema says the first victim received a call that her social security number had been fraudulently used. The number had been used to rent a vehicle. That vehicle was later found abandoned with cocaine and blood in it. There was a $2000 arrest warrant on her and they needed her social security number, which she gave them. While the victim has no money, the scammers now have access to her social security number and can use that for a variety of fraudulent purposes.
The second victim was on Facebook marketplace looking for a used golf cart. The Chief says they found one they liked that was in Billings Montana, so they clicked on the tab to contact the seller and did so via the seller’s gmail account. They agreed to pay $1400 for the cart and were directed to purchase it with e-bay gift cards. The seller’s e-mail appeared to be coming from e-bay and even had the e-bay logos on it. The victim purchased the cards and gave the numbers off of the cards to the alleged seller. The victim tried to contact e-bay via the phone numbers on the e-mail and was assured this was a legitimate purpose. They later received notice that they had to pay $1000 for shipping insurance. He again tried to contact e-bay but used the e-bay website to contact them. He learned that the scammers had nothing to do with e-bay and that his money was gone.
According to Chief Bolkema, the third victim received a “blackmail” e-mail on her home e-mail account. The e-mail said there was malware on her computer and that this malware had videos of her watching pornography. She was instructed to send money with bitcoin or they would share the videos with all of her contacts. Victim had not been viewing pornography on her computer, but is concerned over the fact that the scammers listed her e-mail password on the e-mail. She has no idea how they were able to hack into her computer, according to Chief Bolkema.
It should be noted that none of the victims listed above were elderly residents. Bolkema says people need to be aware of these scams so they don’t become the next victim.
