Data shows fraud reports increasing in Cole County, lowering in Boone
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Fraudsters are still conning people out of hundreds or even thousands of dollars, but data shows reports in Boone County and nationwide have fallen recently.
According to statistics kept by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Boone County Sheriff's Office has seen 78 fraud offenses through October this year, which is down more than 31% compared to 2022.
Data shows the majority of fraud committed was identity theft, followed by false pretenses, credit card fraud and wire fraud.
Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Roger Johnson said his office commonly deals with scams related to construction work, but he said many scams tend to happen between strangers, so it's hard to track down the culprit.
"We do have prosecutions from time to time for different kinds of frauds," Johnson said. "Online frauds are especially hard because it's hard to identify the person."
Det. Tracy Perkins at the Boone County Sheriff's Office said not many scam cases are resolved because online criminals can cover their tracks by hiding their IP address or using a burner phone.
"There's so much that leads to dead ends on the back side to track them to where they're actually coming from," Perkins said. "How we can't catch them is because they're covering the digital tracks of the cyber side of it."
In Cole County, the Sheriff's Office has received 71 reports of fraud so far in 2023, according to data from Sheriff John Wheeler. This is higher than in previous years, with 56 reports in 2022 and 62 in 2021.
Nationally, the FTC shows more than 1.8 million reports of fraud nationwide in 2023 through October, totaling more than $3.7 billion in losses. This is down slightly from 2022 when there were 2.5 million reports and over $4.6 billion in losses.
In 2023, data shows the leading cause of fraud was credit and debit cards, followed by payment apps, bank transfers, cryptocurrency, gift cards and wire transfers.
Johnson said it's important for people to never send money to a stranger, especially if they're asking for money through a certain method.
"Never send somebody funds through a gift card, Bitcoin or wire transfer," Johnson said. "No legitimate company is ever going to ask you to pay them that way."
He said if someone is unsure if something is a scam, they should talk to their banker because a financial professional will be aware of common scams and be able to tell someone if they are dealing with a scammer.
Johnson said people shouldn't be embarrassed to seek help if they have fallen for a scam.
Perkins said when someone does get scammed, they should report the fraud to law enforcement. She said the Boone County Sheriff's Office wants to know how the scam occurred and how the money was transferred.
Watch ABC 17 News on Wednesday after the CMA Awards to learn about a popular scam being seen by the Boone County Sheriff's Office and how people can protect themselves.
