Economic Crimes Unit

The Economic Crimes Unit was formed in 2006 in response to the increasing amount of economic crimes being perpetrated against the citizens of Pasco County. The unit is currently comprised of eight detectives and one sergeant. The unit works economic cases county-wide. The Economic Crimes Unit is tasked with the investigation of;

Credit Card Fraud, Forgery, Counterfeiting, Exploitation of the Elderly, Schemes to Defraud, Identity Theft, Check Fraud, Internet Fraud, Computer Crimes, Worthless Checks, Other Fraudulent Activity. 

The shear volume and extent of these investigations require the assistance and cooperation of other agencies such as the State Attorney General, Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspector, FBI, ATF, and the State Fire Marshal. The detectives in this unit are often assigned special investigations on an as-needed basis.

Victims of Identity Theft may not realize the extent of their loss until after the initial crime has gone undetected for quite some time. While there are no guarantees about avoiding identity theft, there are steps you can take to minimize your risk and minimize the damage if a problem occurs.

1. Contact the fraud departments of any one of the three consumer reporting companies to place a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures before open any new accounts.

2. Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.

3. File your complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You may print a copy of your complaint to provide important standardized information for your police report.

4. File a report with your local police or police in the community where the identity theft took place. Give the police a copy of your FTC ID Theft complaint form.

For more information, or to file a complaint with the FTC, please visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft or call 1-877-IDTHEFT.

Pasco County has a large segment of its population comprised of elderly citizens. One of the more heinous yet under-reported crimes in this community is financial Exploitation of the Elderly. According to Florida State Statute 825.103, Exploitation of the Elderly occurs when a person:

"knowingly, by deception or intimidation obtaining or using, or endeavoring to obtain or use, an elderly person’s funds, assets, or property with intention to temporarily or permanently deprive the elderly person of the use, benefit, or possession of the funds, assets, or property, or to benefit someone other that the elderly person, by a person who:

1. Stands in a position of trust and confidence with the elderly person: or

2. Has a business relationship with the elderly person; or

Obtaining or using, endeavoring to obtain or use, or conspiring with another to obtain or use an elderly person’s assets, funds, or property with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the elderly person of the use, benefit, or possession of the funds, assets, or property by a person who knows, or reasonably should know that the elderly person lacks capacity to consent."

Basically this statute dictates that the elderly person’s age is not the only factor to take into consideration. The elderly person must also show some lack of ability to consent, for reasons such as short-term memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, or some other infirmity of aging.

It is important for family members and friends to try and maintain contact with their elderly relatives and friends. A good resource to obtain assistance for the elderly is the Florida Department of Elder Affairs website located at elderaffairs.state.fl.us/.

Credit Card Fraud

Credit card information continues to be a target of criminal activity, both here and abroad. Citizens are reminded to use care with not only the plastic credit card itself, but also credit card receipts and statements. Both the statement and some receipts contain enough information to allow a criminal to use your credit card number to make fraudulent purchases. Additionally, criminals continue to capture credit card information with the use of "skimmers."

Skimming is the theft of credit card information by a dishonest employee of a legitimate merchant, manually copying down numbers, or using a magnetic stripe reader on a pocket-sized electronic device. Common scenarios for skimming are restaurants or bars where the skimmer has possession of the victim's credit card out of their immediate view. The skimmer will typically use a small keypad to unobtrusively transcribe the 3 or 4 digit Card Security Code which is not present on the magnetic strip.

(small handheld skimmer)

If you feel you are a victim of credit card fraud, you are encouraged to follow the steps outlined in the Identity Theft section.

With the advancement of technology and computer equipment available to the public, resurgence in counterfeit currency has been observed. You can help guard against this threat by being more familiar with our currency. Only with the public's cooperation and the aid of local law enforcement agencies can the United States Secret Service hope to reduce and control this crime. Visit the How to Detect Counterfeit Money section of Know Your Money on the US Secret Service website (http://www.secretservice.gov/) to find out more on how to guard against counterfeit losses.

On of the more common investigations conducted by the Economic Crimes Unit involves forgery. Forgery is when someone "makes, alters, forges, or counterfeits" checks or certain other described documents with the intent to injure or defraud any person. Merely signing another person’s signature is not a forgery. At times the most difficult portion of the forgery to prove is the intent to injure or defraud someone.

Detectives go to great lengths to be able to prove the loss to the victim of a forgery. The financial institutions we work with are usually able to provide information that would assist in the prosecution of these cases. It is still up to the individual to try and safeguard their checkbooks and other documents in order to not become a victim. Some suggestions include:

Carry your checkbook only when necessary.

Lock up your checkbook in a safe place.

Keep your replacement checkbooks in a safe, separate location.

Do not use your house mailbox to mail checks, whenever possible. Use postal mailboxes at the US Post Office as it provides more security.

Regularly balance your checkbook. Use online banking whenever possible.

 

The Economic Crimes Unit is responsible for investigating Worthless Checks that are forged, counterfeit, or where the payment has been stopped with the intent to defraud. A Deputy Sheriff who responds to the initial call will take the original report and will forward the information to the Economic Crime Unit. It is important that the caller have a copy of the front and back of the cancelled check prior to having a report initiated. This information will help the detective obtain the information about where the check was cashed.

Checks that are returned for "insufficient funds" or "account closed" should be directed to the State Attorney’s Office Bad Check Diversion Program rather than to the Sheriff’s Office. You may download the necessary information from the State Attorney’s website at statty.co.pinellas.fl.us/ or by calling 727-847-8158 or 352-521-4333 and asking for Check Diversion.

As one of the newer crimes, internet fraud can take many different forms. One example will usually involve the unlawful taking of money and/or property from a victim over the internet using various means such as E-Bay, Autotrader, Craig’s List, or other on line classified or auction sites.

Another example involves "phishing" for information. Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out using email or an instant message, although phone contact has been used as well. Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, and technical measures.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center compiled Internet fraud statistics based upon the 97,076 complaints referred to law enforcement in 2005. Internet auction fraud comprised 62.7 percent of referred complaints. The total dollar loss from all referred cases of fraud was $183.12 million, with a median dollar loss of $424.00 per complaint. Electronic mail and Web sites were the two primary mechanisms by which the fraudulent contact took place.

It is important that all people be cognizant of their personal data. Most banks will not ask for passwords or account information over the Internet or in an e-mail. You should also watch the bottom of your screen while using your browser to look for a small padlock. This indicates that you are on a secure connection. Another way to tell is to look for an Internet site that begins with https://. The "s" indicates secure.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Bleached money
The Secret Service and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office combined efforts to make a counterfeiting bust unlike any ever before in the Tampa Bay area.  Suspects would turn $5 bills into $100 bills and then pass thousands of dollars worth of the bogus money at area businesses.

The crooks would wash the ink from the $5 bill, front and back, dry it, and then reprint the hundred dollar images onto the paper.

Pasco Sheriff's Detective Darcy Ganter went undercover to try and buy fake bills from the counterfeiters.  She got even more than she bargained for.

"The original thing was to see if I could make a purchase," said Ganter.  "When he came up with an offer to show me how to do it and we negotiated how much it would cost, I didn't expect them to say, 'You wanna buy my business?'"

Four suspects were charged in the original counterfeiting bust and additional arrests with more individuals came later.

Investigators say this case illustrates the need to pay extra attention to the security features on a bill, like the watermark, which can't be bleached out (see above).

Salesman charged in exploitation of widow

May 27, 2005

Pasco Sheriff's detectives arrested a Fletcher Music Center salesman after he sold an elderly woman 11 organs in 18 months.  The elderly woman's relatives say she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2002 and thinks she bought four organs at the most.

According to the salesman's arrest report, the elderly woman first bought a $1,600 organ.  Five days later, she traded it for a better one. Two days after that, she traded that organ for a $9,000 model. Within two months, she was up to organ number six. Family members went to the sales manager and told him to quit selling organs to their mother because she had Alzheimer's.  But 11 months later, in August 2004, he sold her another one. And four more after that.  The salesman convinced the woman, who was taking lessons at the store, that she could play better if she kept upgrading. The organ salesman was arrested on a charge of exploitation of the elderly.