Morgantown Police Department warns about scams

Beware of frauds and scammers trying to take advantage of COVID-19, the Morgantown Police Department warned on Thursday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has seen an increase in online fraud schemes related to COVID-19, according to the MPD.

The fraud typically falls into three categories:

-Fake emails purportedly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other organizations offering to sell information on the virus;

-Phishing emails asking for verification of personal information in order to receive an economic stimulus check from the government or other entities, such as fake cures, vaccines, or testing kits;

-Messages about treatment or equipment, such as a vaccine, gloves, respirator, or face masks.

To avoid such scams, the MPD recommends not clicking on links or opening attachments within an email unless you’re certain of the sender’s identity, not providing financial data by email or phone and always verifying web addresses by typing them into your browser.

A lot of times, victims may never know they were a victim of a phishing or scamming attack because when they click the link to a virus or trojan program it is downloaded and their personal information is exposed and used, MPD Chief Ed Preston said.

The MPD has taken five complaints in the last month where charges on credit cards or bank transactions were made without the victim’s consent, he said.

“These types of things happen regularly and billions of dollars are lost nationally due to these activities,” Preston said. “There is usually a spike in these types of activities following critical incidents.”

The odds of getting your money back vary and depend on the credit card or bank and what protections are offered for their customers, he said.

Anyone who believes they are a victim of cyber crime or internet scams should report it to the FCC or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

“Typically we may not have jurisdiction over these cases. That is why the FBI and the FCC are the go-to agencies for these types of investigations,” Preston said.

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