SAFFORD — Local law enforcement found itself taking numerous reports of scams, fraud and identity theft.
In September, Graham County Sheriff’s deputies took a report from a man on Terrace Lane, who, upon checking his credit, learned it was reported he had defaulted on rent payments on an apartment in Duluth, Ga., a place he’d never been.
Deputies also took a report from a man on San Jose Road who learned someone tried to take out a line of credit in his deceased wife’s name. He learned of the attempted identity theft when he was contacted because the application was denied.
Safford Police took a report from a woman who said she was contacted via e-mail by someone claiming to be with Best Buy, wanting her to click a link in order for the “company” to pull $299 from her bank account.
A Graham County man reported being the target of a scammer claiming to be “Detective Adam” with the Sheriff’s Office. The contact went to voicemail, so the man did not have contact with the scammer.
In October, a woman on Jackrabbit Road told Sheriff’s deputies she was told she received a fraudulent transfer of $500 into her bank account, followed by threats the scammers would revoke the transfer and make her account overdrawn.
In each instance, the targets of the scammers did not share any information and broke contact.
When dealing with identity theft, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office said victims should file an Identity Theft Report with the Federal Trade Commission to obtain an Identity Theft Affidavit, file a report with local law enforcement, and notify all three credit reporting agencies and every debt collector that has made contact.
If a data breach has occurred, go to Notification of Data Breach | Arizona Attorney General (azag.gov) to make a report.
