By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–Everyone knows about scams, yet, with more sophisticated tactics and technology their ruses are succeeding more and more.

Cons, including ploys such as the recent calls around Westport from phony police officials, pulled in a reported $15.9 billion from victims nationwide last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported in March. And that’s based only on those who weren’t too embarrassed to tell the authorities.

That number was up from $12.5 million in 2024, which was up more than 25% from the year before, according to the FTC.

How is this so?

“Telephone scammers…likely make hundreds of calls in a day in the hopes of conning at least a few people,” said Lieutenant Anthony Prezioso, spokesman for the Westport Police Department. “Unfortunately, based on my experience, I can tell you that victimizing just a few folks in a day is more than enough to make their efforts worthwhile.”

In the recent scam around town, callers falsely claiming to be Westport police officials “warn” that the person answering the phone has missed a court date or jury duty and must pay a fine – immediately.

The Westport Police Department put out an advisory with a reminder that no one from the department will call you to demand payment for missing jury duty or a court date. It offered these tips:

• Never provide personal or financial information to unsolicited, unverified callers.
• Be cautious of anyone creating a sense of urgency or requesting payment by gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfer or other unusual methods.

If you question the authenticity of a caller claiming to be a Westport police officer, contact the police department directly at its non-emergency number, (203) 341-6000, to check.

Threatening arrest – or fines or deportation – marks one of the key strategies scam artists employ, the FTC says. Other scammers might offer debt relief, an irresistible business investment, free or low-cost vacations or prizes where you’re expected to pay taxes, registration fees or shipping charges.

It is difficult to estimate how many people are being scammed, in part because they may be embarrassed, Prezioso said. Even those calling to let police know about the scam may not want to follow through with a police report, he said. Still others may not even know they’ve been scammed.

Last year, nationally, while victims lost the most money — $7.9 billion – to investor scams, a third of all the reports were about imposter scams, the FTC said. Those cons took $3 billion from consumers, according to the agency. 

Methods are evolving; you can’t even trust your caller ID. Scammers can “spoof” the phone, making any name or number show up on your phone, the FTC said. A scammer anywhere in the world can make it look like a call is coming from the Social Security Administration or another U.S. government agency, or from a local number.

With these sophisticated cons, Prezioso said, the scammer attempts “to copy a trusted email address, falsely representing themselves as a business such as Amazon or service provider such as Eversource for example, or providing some personal information that makes the contact seem legitimate.”

Others, he said, “are lower tech, essentially boiling down to cold calls with some kind of set script.”

A key to averting a scam is to hang up and contact the agency or business the scammer claimed to be from using phone numbers and other contact information you look up independently. Never use the contact information the suspected scammer is giving you.

The FTC offers these other tips on how to avoid becoming the victim of a phone scam:

There is no prize: The caller might say you were chosen for an offer or prize. But if you have to pay to get the prize in any way – shipping, taxes and so on – it’s not a prize.

You won’t be arrested: Scammers pretending to be with law enforcement might threaten arrest, fines or deportation if you don’t pay “taxes” or some other debt right away. Real law enforcement doesn’t act that way.

There’s no rush: An honest business won’t pressure you to make a decision on the spot.

Pay this way: Scammers often insist you pay in a way that makes it hard to get your money back — wire transfer, gift card, cryptocurrency or payment app. “Anyone who insists that you can only pay that way is a scammer,” the FTC says.

Keep sensitive information to yourself: “No government agency is going to call you out of the blue and ask for sensitive information like your Social Security number,” the FTC said. “They’re lying if they say they’re with a government agency you know, like the Social Security Administration or IRS.”

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}