Sheriff’s Office makes rapid response during active scam

Not many sheriff’s offices in counties this size have such an investigator, but even then, Calamari’s particular dedication in his unique position likely sets him apart from the ones that do.

Calamari takes fraud and scam calls day and night, and when he can, he talks with the criminals themselves to warn them away from ripping people off in Union County. That’s what happened here.

The scam in question unraveled swiftly after UCSO Deputy Matthew Phillips responded to a 911 call a woman placed after suspecting she had been targeted by a scammer. Everyone at the Sheriff’s Office knows that when a scammer threatens, call Calamari – so, Phillips did.

Phillips drove the intended victim’s home and stayed with her until Calamari could arrive. In the meantime, the deputy connected Calamari directly with the scammer as they waited for him to join them.

The scammer had been talking with the woman on her cellphone, and Calamari dialed in on the landline, enabling them to rig an unconventional “conference call.” Calamari told the scammer the jig was up, and he instructed the woman to disconnect the call and block the phone number.

After Calamari arrived, the woman began describing the scam, with which Calamari was all too familiar, having seen several of the same type in the last few months.

She had gotten a fake email from PayPal claiming a $200 purchase she did not make. In hopes of reversing the charge, the woman called into a “customer service” line and granted computer access to the man who picked up on the other end.

Without her realizing it, the scammer had moved money from one of her bank accounts to another before claiming he had accidentally refunded too much money – 100 times too much, to be exact, and if she did not give it back, there would be trouble for them both.

Looking at her bank account, the woman clearly saw $20,000 that wasn’t supposed to be there, so she followed his instructions and drove to her bank to remove the money from her account.

After she withdrew the sum in cash, the scammer told her to drive down the mountain to deposit the money into a Bitcoin machine located in Gainesville. By that point, the woman’s suspicions had grown, so she refused to make the trip.

That’s when the scammer said he would send someone to pick up the money in person, prompting her to call 911, which brought Deputy Phillips and Sgt. Calamari to her doorstep – thankfully before the scammer could figure out another way to steal her cash.

Even after their arrival, the woman believed the scammer had deposited money into her account for some kind of nefarious plot, but Calamari assured her – confirmed afterward with the bank – that the criminal had simply transferred her own funds as part of the scam.

“Thanks to the fast actions of Deputy Phillips and Sgt. Calamari, this woman was saved $20,000 that she already had in cash,” said UCSO Capt. Doug Brackett, who heads up the Criminal Investigations Division. “Had action not been taken, more than likely, they would have figured out some way to get that money from her within the next day or so.”

The woman has since closed the affected accounts and had her computer cleared of a virus that was likely installed by the scammer.

Calamari said the scammer, who went by “Alex,” had an Indian accent, and he believes the man was operating overseas. Out of an abundance of caution, Calamari ordered increased patrols near her home for the next few days to make sure no one attempted to retrieve her money.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Calamari continued to call the scammer’s phone number. He even offered the scammer a chance to come get the money at the Union County Sheriff’s Office, but the criminal declined to show.

Eventually, the number was disconnected, which is one of the reasons Calamari continues to call scammers after the fact; he wants them to disconnect the numbers they use in order to prevent other potential victims from responding to scam material that exists perpetually on the internet.

In this case, a resident had to learn the hard way about how to respond to scams, though she is now prepared to handle similar situations moving forward. In fact, a few days later, someone named “Mark” called, and she immediately told him to “pound sand,” in Calamari’s words.

Fortunately, there’s an easier way to learn. Beyond responding to scam reports, the Sheriff’s Office has tasked Calamari with educating the public about scams – the most common types and prevention methods – to decrease the prevalence of financial crimes in Union County.

Calamari has hosted dozens of free classes for the public, ranging from large-scale venues like the Fine Arts Center to smaller gatherings at the library, Senior Center and individual churches.

He always hands out prevention literature from the Georgia Attorney General’s Office in addition to his talks and other presentation materials, and usually a local bank representative or technical support professional attends to provide more information and answer questions.

And the results speak for themselves. Year to date, the local scam rate is down by a double-digit percentage now that the public has greater awareness of how to avoid being scammed, possibly out of life savings or money set aside for the care of ailing seniors.

Residents can go ahead and mark their calendars for two upcoming Scam & Fraud Awareness Classes hosted by the Sheriff’s Office: Wednesday, Aug. 6, and Wednesday, Aug. 20, both at 10 a.m. inside the Union County Public Library at 303 Hunt-Martin Street in Blairsville.