Schemes increase during holidays
Some Gilmer citizens recently saved themselves and others from theft by staying vigilant.
In one case, the alleged criminal had a trustworthy reference, a local phone number and a valid account order. But it wasn’t enough to trick Josh Gonzalez of Appalachian Supply.
Instead, he checked the facts and saved customer Eric Key from an $8,080 fraud attempt.
The attempt began Monday, Nov. 24, when a Hispanic man calling himself “Gustavo” arrived at Appalachian Supply to pick up an order for Key. The order, for $8,080, had been placed on his account for building materials, to be delivered to 3360 Turniptown Road.
Gustavo provided a phone number for Key. When Gonzalez called it, he heard a voice with a Spanish accent who identified himself as Key.
Gonzalez recognized this wasn’t Key’s voice. In response, he called him on his account number.
When contacted, Key told Gonzalez he hadn’t placed an order.
During this conversation, Gustavo grew nervous and left.
The Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) investigated the incident.
GCSO Detective Dan Farnham found Gustavo’s vehicle license plate of SLU1595. But video footage from Appalachian Supply confirms that Gustavo wasn’t this individual.
He also found no activity at the address Gustavo mentioned.
The phone number Gustavo provided was traced to a TextPlus Inc.
This group provides people with a free phone number from an area code of their choosing.
Technology like this is often used in phone related scams, GCSO Captain Frank Copeland said.
“There appears to be no limit to the number of apps out there that are doing that,” he said. “Those things were developed so you could make phone calls or text messages and not give away your identity.”
Often, these apps come from outside the country, making it difficult to trace who is using them, he said.
Key told the GCSO that he didn’t want to move forward with the case.
In its investigation report, GCSO said that if people attempt to use Key’s information again or if Key changes his mind, GCSO will get a warrant for TextPlus Inc.
The other scam targeted local homeowner Joyce Everett.
On Friday, Nov. 21, she got an email from GeorgiaNotification.org claiming that there was a new owner listed on her property or another kind of change to her property deed.
The sender repeatedly requested personal information from her to verify her identity. But Everett didn’t give the information to her. Instead, she contacted the GCSO.
In an era where various email and phone-based scams are increasingly common, it’s important to never give your personal information to someone over the phone without verifying their identity, Copeland said.