Attorney General Alan Wilson is warning people about a scam in which people claim to be members of his office’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force or local police in order to steal money.
For years, criminals have pretended to be law enforcement and members of the ICAC task force. The scam appears to be ramping up and they have even used a real investigator’s information from Spartanburg.
The scam involves a male victim meeting a “female” on a dating app, and then the victim is contacted by a “parent” wanting money or an “investigator” offering to let them pay a fine to avoid jail. They tell the victim that they were actually talking to a minor, and then the scammers see how much money they can get out of the victim.
The Attorney General’s Office’s ICAC task force took calls and emails every day last week from people reporting the scam or asking about it. We always tell callers that law enforcement never asks for money and direct them to contact their local law enforcement agency to report the fraud/harassment.
