Man avoids scam thanks to concerned citizen

By Melissa Trevino

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    JIM WELLS COUNTY, Texas (KRIS) — A Premont man was able to avoid a scam thanks to his coworker who noticed the red flags. Jim Wells County Sheriff Daniel Bueno said reporting any suspicious activity, communicating with loved ones, and not answering unknown numbers can help prevent falling victim to a scam. Claudette Garcia, the principal of Premont Collegiate High School, said she recently listened to a conversation between a scammer and her employee.

Many people have received those annoying scam calls, but it’s important to know the warning signs. Scammers do what they can to steal your information and money.

The red flags were waving for one concerned citizen after one of her employees came to her in distress over a phone call he received.

Claudette Garcia, the principal of Premont Collegiate High School, said she listened to a conversation between a scammer and her employee.

“The person was indicating that he was being charged with a crime for not appearing for jury duty. I had a suspicion that it may be a scam. When he said there’s a fine and you can pay it. It made me start questioning it,” she said.

Garcia was on speaker and told the caller, who was pretending to be a Jim Wells County employee, “If you’re going to come arrest him, come arrest him. Send an officer and do that.”

Once the call ended, Garcia called city and county law enforcement agencies who both reassured her that the call was a scam.

Jim Wells County Sheriff Daniel Bueno has seen a rise in these scams in his 40 years in law enforcement especially with advances in technology. Bueno said it’s common to hear about people falling for scams and losing their money.

“There’s more people out there that are becoming victims…and it’s very concerning to law enforcement,” Bueno said.

Sheriff Bueno said these crimes take advantage of hardworking and law-abiding citizens. He explained how once a scam is successful numbers they used to contact you are deactivated and these crimes, when reported, are hard to prosecute.

“No law enforcement agency or courts in any county are going to call you to go make a payment or to make a card payment because you failed to appear in court. That does not happen,” he reminds everyone.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said an all-too-common scheme is when someone impersonates a governmental entity and demand money. FTC data shows consumers lost more than $10 million to fraud in 2023. That’s a 14% increase from 2022.

How do we continue to fall for these types of scams?

“The words you’re fixing to get arrested scare anybody. So, when he heard that, that just triggered some fear in him. And I think that’s what these scam people are focusing on,” Garcia said.

Sheriff Bueno said it’s important to stay alert and if you received anything suspicious report it to law enforcement immediately. Anyone can be a victim to a scam.

He said the best way to prevent scams don’t answer numbers you don’t know, don’t give out personal information, and communicate with your loved ones.

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