Dec 1, 2023 By Mark Hofmann 3 min read

The holiday season is supposed to be a time for giving, but state police said scammers are always on the lookout for what they can take.

Tpr. Kalee Barnhart, public information officer for state police in Uniontown, said scams are typically on the rise during the holiday season when folks are spending more money than they normally do, and feeling more charitable than any other time of year.

But the prevalence of scams isn’t limited to Christmastime, she said.

“From Jan. 1 to mid November, our troopers investigated approximately 150 incidents of fraudulent activity,” said Barnhart. “The total loss to the affected residents of Fayette County totalled $2,068,308. They aren’t businesses; these are citizens of Fayette County.”

During a Thursday press conference, she warned citizens to be wary of unsolicited calls or emails, and offered some tips for not getting taken in by fraudsters.

While the phone is still the most popular tool for scammers, Barnhart said, scammers also use email, text messages and other methods of electronic communication to get to their victims, mostly those over the age of 60.

“Unfortunately, the percentage is high with that age group,” said Cpl. Michael Doriguzzi, Troop B’s criminal investigation unit supervisor. “The elderly are unaware of the consequences of handing out that information.”

The most often requested information includes banking accounts and social security numbers, he said.

Scammers are adept at disguising who they really are, Barnhart said, noting they have posed as employees of government agencies, banks, private companies and even police officers.

And there are certain red flags that should alert people that something might not be right with a request for information.

She advised that no one should send money, banking or personal information to someone they don’t know.

Other things to be on the lookout for:

n Having to pay in a specific way, like through gift cards, payment apps like Venmo or Cash App, or wire transfer services like Western Union or MoneyGram. Barnhart said those methods of payment are extremely hard to trace and investigate.

n Scammers often pressure their victims to act immediately so the victims won’t have time to investigate the legitimacy of the incident.

“Honest businesses will never be that demanding and pressure you to act immediately,” Barnhart said. “Anyone who pressures you to pay or give them your personal information is a scammer.”

Barnhart added that, at the end of the day, people need to trust their instincts, knowing if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.

She also encouraged anyone who has any questions to call their family members or call the police and ask if the encounter was a scam.

“If you think you’ve fallen victim to a scam, call us to investigate that scam for you,” Barnhart said.

Doriguzzi added that, with such crimes, it’s best for the victims to call the local branch of their bank immediately as well as the police.

“The faster we can get our crime unit on it, the faster it can be resolved,” Doriguzzi said.

Barnhart said no specific type of scam is on the rise as scammers are using all sorts of scenarios and through whatever forms of communication are available to them.

“The scams are endless, and they’re coming up with new scams every day,” she said.