Dubliners are urged to beware of two scams that have been reported recently in the community.
Dublin Police Investigator Nanci Wilson reported that the first scam is what’s known as a ‘money mule’ scam.
The Federal Trade Commission reported that in money mule scenarios, scammers try to use targets to move (or launder) stolen money.
Wilson said scammers will often try to fake a relationship (either personal or professional) with someone online or through calls and ask the target to deposit money into their account and then transfer it elsewhere to cloud where the money came from and where it’s sent.
In one of the reported local cases, investigation revealed that the money was coming from unemployment checks stolen from people in Florida.
The second scam being reported involves targets receiving messages or pictures from attractive people saying they’d like to come see them but they have a financial problem preventing them from doing so. The scammer will then ask the target to purchase a giftcard to cover the costs.
“If somebody is communicating with you and wants you to send giftcards, it’s most likely a scam,” said Wilson, who added she had three people try to report missing persons that turned out to be faked identities related to the scam.
One local resident sent all the money they had available before the scam was revealed.
Wilson asks everyone to be wary of unsolicited messages and requests for money through the internet and phone calls. If anyone has doubts of a message’s legitimacy, she encourages them to call her at 445-3455.