“Scummers” see crises such as the current one as an opportunity to try and steal from the general public –
“The Truckee Police Department would like to remind all of you about possible scams during the COVID-19 crisis. The FBI has established a web page, https://www.fbi.gov/coronavirus, as a resource to help educate and inform our community against some of the scams that are out there.
Continue using smart cyber hygiene. Be aware that cyber criminals may exploit concerns surrounding COVID-19 to steal your money. The FBI has published information about fraud schemes related to the COVID-19 pandemic: https://www.ic3.gov/media/2020/200320.aspx. Please remember the following four tips to protect yourself and help stop this criminal activity:
– Do not open attachments or click links within emails from senders you don’t recognize.
– Always verify the information being shared originates from a legitimate source.
– Do not provide your logins, financial data or other personal information in response to an email.
– Visit websites by manually inputting their domains to your browser.
Due to school being out, many children are now spending more time on internet-connected devices. This can expose our children to criminals who exploit the internet-based communication. Measures to prevent child exploitation and the signs of abuse are found on the following FBI web page: https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/school-closings-due-to-covid-19-present-potential-for-increased-risk-of-child-exploitation.
You are a huge part of keeping our community safe. Please report criminal activity and threats to the Truckee Police by calling (530) 550-2320 or submitting a tip to https://local.nixle.com/tip/truckee-police-dept/. COVID-related fraud should be reported to the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via email at disaster@leo.gov. If the criminal activity is cyber related, you may also submit a report to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
On behalf of all of us at the Truckee Police Department, stay safe and stay healthy Truckee!”
