What Can Law Enforcement Do About Scams?
What should law enforcement be doing about all the scams out there? I began thinking about this as I researched the number of scams that have occurred in virtually all industries — 4.8 million scams in the U.S. in 2020 alone according to a report in Bloomberg Businessweek in July. No wonder law enforcement can do little except take a report because they are swamped.
That’s what the police tell you when you call to report a home or auto burglary. Just file a report and talk to your insurance company. Given the huge number of scams, the police, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies, treat scams in much the same way. However, if they get repeated reports, they may then take some action against a particular scammer or scam company.
Report them to your credit card or the payment platform you use to pay them. Not only may you get back your money if you make the report quickly enough, but the card or payment platform that processes their funds may close their account and stop allowing anyone to make payments to it. That’s what happened to a company I reported to PayPal for victimizing dozens of clients who told me about their experience with that company. Other payment platforms like Remitly and Moneygram began refusing to take any more payments to them, too.
The other big key to unlocking some law enforcement action in a particular case is getting some media interest. For once there is popular interest in a case, the police take notice, start to take some action, and report that to the media to keep the public informed. The response is much the same for the FBI and other government agencies.
Thus, if you are a scam victim, report any scam both to the law enforcement agencies that might handle your case and to your local media, so they’ll take some action as the number of victims mounts up. It’s like recognizing there is a serial killer attacking victims, although in this case, it’s a scammer scamming more victims.
The author is internationally published author and film producer, Gini Graham Scott, PhD, who has published over 200 books, 50 for traditional publishers and 150 for her own company Changemakers Publishing, specializing in books on self-help, popular business, and social issues. She writes frequently about personal growth, success, social trends, and everyday life. Besides What Type of Dog Are You?, her recent books include: The New American Middle Ages and Turning Your Books or Scripts into Films. She has written and executive produced 14 feature films and documentaries, featured on the www.changemakersproductionsfilms.com website. She also writes books and scripts for clients. Her website for writing is at www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com.
For more information or to set up an interview, contact: my assistant at:
Karen Andrews
Executive Assistant to Gini Graham Scott
Changemakers Publishing and Writing
Lafayette, CA 94549 . (925) 385–0608