Police warn Las Vegas community of increasing spoofing scams

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Las Vegas police and other authorities are warning the public about an increasingly common scam called “spoofing,” in which scammers now also visit private individuals and collect their debit cards.

The scammer calls pretending to be from a financial institution, claiming there is suspicious activity on the account. They may even send a text message with a verification code to appear more official. The call may be made with a fake caller ID that states the name of the financial institution to gain trust. According to Patrick Kearney, Assistant Vice President of Fraud and Security at One Nevada Credit Union, this trend has been around for a few years, but scammers visiting their victims in person to get the debit card is an increasing trend.

“We’ve seen it,” Kearney said. “They’re not as common as I said, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen anything like this.”

Henderson police arrested 32-year-old Emmanuel Almonor on May 23 after the department’s Financial Crimes Unit identified Almonor as the suspect behind several reports of credit card fraud in which victims were targeted through spoofing. Henderson police said Almonor posed as a bank representative and then told victims a representative from the bank he was calling from would personally come to their address and pick up their cards to “properly destroy” them.

“It’s obviously a good way to get caught because by showing up there you’re basically gathering evidence against yourself,” Kearney said.

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However, he said the risk for fraudsters may be worth the reward.

“There are a lot more opportunities to make successful transactions when you have a physical card in your hand,” Kearney said. “When you have a card with tap or chip technology and you can insert that card, there is a lot less control, both from the merchant and the financial institution.”

According to Kearney, people of all demographics and ages fall for this scam because the scammers create a sense of urgency and panic.

“When one of our members sees our phone number on their caller ID, it makes them feel much more like they’re talking to one of us, and that makes them more likely to do things that even we would never ask them to do,” Kearney said. “So whether they’re older, younger, educated or not, you’re going to have the same emotional reaction and want to protect your account. If you think you’re talking to your financial institution, you’re going to give them whatever they ask if they tell you they can stop the fraud.”

A credit union in Nevada and other financial institutions such as Bank of America And Wells Fargo Post scams online and urge your customers not to give out their PIN, passwords or one-time access codes to unwanted callers. Also, never give a debit card to someone claiming to be a bank representative who is supposed to destroy the card.