PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS
A SCAM that is occurring in Robertson County
**UPDATE**
Phony Thank You letter
Phony receipt
Businesses should instruct their
employees to verify the identity of the caller, and to contact their management
or 911 prior to taking action.
These calls are dangerous, disruptive, and can cause serious damage to property
or personal injury. Employers should make all employees aware of these pranks
and stay informed of other trends. Employers should have a clear policy on
emergencies and provide employees a way to reach management 24 hours per day.
You should always report suspicious incidents to your local law enforcement
agency or the Tennessee Fusion Center (877) 250-2333.
Cyber
Security
Cyber Criminals Find New Ways to Attack
Cyber criminals are increasingly targeting trusted Web sites and other sources as a way to spread malware, cyber security experts said.
Cyber criminals are finding new ways to steal information, including infecting legitimate Web sites with Trojans and creating rogue software packages that look legitimate but contain malware, cyber security experts warned. Recent months have seen a rise in sophisticated attacks, also including so-called spear phishing, an e-mail scam targeted at a small group of people, a group of cyber security professionals said Tuesday at a TechAmerica cyber security forum in Washington, D.C. Spear phishing is a form of the common phishing scam, but instead of a fake e-mail that looks like it comes from a bank or e-commerce site, it instead looks like it comes from someone you know, such as an executive at your company. Cyber criminals are now focusing on compromising trusted sources of information, by installing Trojans on legitimate Web sites or faking e-mail messages from people known to would-be victims, asking them for personal information, said Eric Cole, cyber security senior fellow at Lockheed Martin. In early 2007, two Web sites affiliated with the Miami Dolphins football team were compromised with malicious code, and earlier this year a site affiliated with rock star Paul McCartney contained malicious code.
Scam received from Southern KY
Scam that focuses on elderly people. The subjects enter the homes under false pretense that they are selling linoleum, and buying old furniture for resale. The subject bring into the homes a large piece of linoleum and open it up to show the homeowners. While one of the subjects gets the homeowners attention listening to sales pitch, the second subject enters other rooms of the home taking jewelry and money. Beware of traveling sales persons.
Hotels are being targeted by Internet based pranksters
Law enforcement agencies across the country are becoming aware of a number of hotels and even fast food restaurants, becoming victims of an internet based, prank network. The pranksters call pretending to be a person of authority, a hotel front desk clerk, or a representative of an alarm company. The caller will coax the victim into performing an involuntary act of vandalism, resulting in several thousands of dollars damage to the establishment or personal embarrassment of the victim. The pranksters will then chat about the prank on-line and even post the event on YouTube.
Comfort Inn Suites – Johnson City, TN
On 05
JUN 09, at 11:00 PM, a person called the front desk of the Comfort Inn Suites,
3118 Browns Mill Rd, in Johnson City, TN, stating they were from the alarm
company Simplex Grinnell. The caller convinced the front desk clerk they had
received an alarm from the business and confirmed with the desk clerk that it
was a false alarm. The caller then advised the clerk he would help her reset the
alarm and advised her to go to the closest pull station and hold it down for
five seconds and then release it. The clerk told the caller she had done this
and was then instructed to go to the closest sprinkler head and hit the tip of
it. The sprinkler began spraying water and flooded the lobby area causing damage
to the alarm, phones, and computer systems.
Holiday Inn Express - Conway, AR
On 06 JUN 09, at 6:38 AM, Officers from the Conway Police Department were dispatched in response to a burglary alarm at the Holiday Inn Express, 2370 Sanders Street, in Conway, AR. The officers arrived to find 100 to 150 people standing in the parking lot, an audible fire alarm was sounding, multiple broken windows, and the floors were flooded with water. The front desk clerk stated she had received a telephone call from an unknown number at 6:00 AM, and the caller identified himself as an employee of the Grinnell fire sprinkler service. The clerk was told there was a problem with the sprinklers and she needed to pull the fire alarm to reset them. The clerk pulled the lever causing the audible alarm.
The caller advised her to push the lever back up. When the clerk informed the caller she could return the lever to the up position, the caller told her she needed to break all the exterior windows to prevent the sprinklers from activating. A customer and the clerk began breaking the windows with fire extinguishers. While the customer was breaking windows, the caller advised the clerk she would need to break a portion of one of the sprinkler heads to keep it from activating. When she did this a large amount of water began flowing out of the sprinkler head. The caller advised the customer and the clerk they needed to shut down the power to the hotel. After the power was shut off, the fire department arrived and was informed of the situation. It was later discovered a similar incident had happened to a Holiday Inn Express in Little Rock, AR.
Phone lines held Hostage
Caller calls an unsuspecting business and tells the employee that they are from the phone company. They then tell the recipient of the call that there is trouble on the line and the only way to fix it is to have the lines forwarded to another number. Once the calls are forwarded, the suspect will have complete control of the calls coming into the business and has some control over business operations.
Swine Flu Food Scare (H1N1)
Suspect will call a restaurant and advise the employee they are from the health department and the last shipment of food received by the restaurant has been contaminated with the Swine Flu or other disease. The caller instructs the employee to cease all operations, clear out all customers, and destroy all remaining portions of the unused foods.
Urine Hoax
The caller will call a hotel and ask to be connected to a randomly selected room. Once connected to a room, the caller will tell the guest that the previous guest had AIDS. They inform the current guest they may have been contaminated and they will need to have their urine tested. The guest is instructed to urinate in the cup located in the bathroom and bring it to the hotel lobby to be examined by the “House Doctor.” While the guest is doing this, the caller or accomplice, will call the front desk and inform the clerk that his company has an employee staying at the hotel, who is marketing a new “apple cider” or another type of drink. The clerk is told the employee is coming down to the front desk to give them a sample and asks if they would sample the product to let the caller know how it tastes.
Robertson County Government
is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a Drug-Free Workplace
This page was last updated on
04/03/2012
Robertson County Sheriff's Office