FRAZIER PARK, Calif. (KERO) — A recent Facebook hack in Frazier Park led to one person being scammed out of $1,500. The Kern County Sheriff's Office shares what you can do to protect you account, and your wallet.
- In the mountains, everyone looks out for everyone. One way is through social media– but there are some precautions that you still need to take.
- A recent Facebook hack led to one person being scammed out of $1,500.
- Lori Meza with Kern County Sheriff’s Office shares some of the red flags to look out for.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Richard Crow, a Frazier Park resident, says he's quick to lend a helping hand. He said, "I thought I was doing a good deed.”
One way he reaches out is through Facebook.
“One of the ladies I helped at, like, eight o’clock at night texted me and needed a code for her Facebook,” Crow said. “She said she was locked out and needed someone she could trust. Could she text me a phone number, and I text it back to her number?’ And I didn’t think anything of it because I help her two or three days a week.”
Shortly after that incident, Crow said his Facebook account was taken over– but that was the beginning.
“The next morning I noticed there was a car posted on my Facebook page and he was asking for money, and when I went to log in, I was locked. And then I cannot get into my Facebook, my messenger.”
But before his family could get the word out, it was too late.
Sarah Martinec, a family friend, was saving for a car and saw Crow’s post.
“I have my car fund, so I’ve been searching and looking... I didn’t wanna do Facebook Marketplace, because I was a little hesitant and worried,” said Martinec. “It said that he had a car and that it was for a friend. He was selling it for her. Her husband had passed away.”
But it wasn’t him.
At first, the scammer requested $1,000 to hold the car.
“They’re very smooth, they said, ‘okay, perfect. You can test drive it. When [my stepdad] test drives it tomorrow, if you don’t like it, I’ll refund you, no problem, not a big deal,’” Martinec said.
She sent the money and took screenshots. She was skeptical, since the payment went out to a different name, which was her first red flag.
Then, the scammer wanted more money.
“They're like, ‘Hey, can you send another $500? The lady had talked to somebody, and they had given her $1,000 also to hold the car,’” Martinec said.
Martinec’s payment app wasn’t working, which raised another red flag.
She called her bank, who said that the app was going through an update, but it was nothing on their end. So Martinec sent the money through a separate app.
“I sent the Paypal, then I got a text verification that looked just like the normal one, but it wasn’t,” Martinec said. “It was from them and it said, ‘Oh, your PayPal didn’t go through. Please try to resend it. And so I sent him a screenshot of that, and then he’s like, ‘Oh, well, I didn’t have my security settings set up. Try and resend it.”
That’s when she got a call from Paula, Crow’s daughter, that her father’s facebook account was hacked.
While she wasn’t able to get her money back, she hopes to spread the word.
Lori Meza with the Kern County Sheriff’s Office said scams like these are common and that most people do not realize that they have been scammed until it’s too late.
“In hindsight, everyone sees back and says, ‘Well, I could have/should have/would have done this,’” Meza said. “And those are those moments that we should debrief and ask ourselves… in the future, what could I do differently and what advice could I give my friends and my community members?”
Meza adds that there are some signs to look out for, like the seller showing a sense of urgency, the poster’s content seems out of the ordinary compared to what they typically post, or if anyone sends you a link to click on.
“... if you really have a bill or something that you have to pay, spending the extra minutes that it takes to make a phone call and verifying a link, it could be the difference between you being scammed and you not being scammed out of thousands of your dollars,” Meza said.
If you make an online purchase through payment apps like Paypal or Venmo, make sure the seller provides “guarantee purchase” or buyer protection.
“If you don’t know that person, it’s worth asking them, ‘Hey, I’m a buyer, I wanna buy it, but I want you to get this insurance,’” said Meza. “And they would then make updates in their profile on Venmo or you know their cash app or whatever platform they’re collecting the money on, where they can guarantee that purchase.”
In the situation that you get scammed, make a report to your local sheriff’s office.
And if you meet up with a buyer, have your phone easily accessible to call 9-1-1 in case things go wrong.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office offers free programs to help educate communities on what red flags to look out for online.
To set up a presentation from KCSO on internet safety for adults, you can call the sheriff's office at 661 391-7559.
To make a report in Kern county, call KCSO at 661-861-3110.
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