The Ventura County Sheriff's department is warning residents of on-going telephone scams that have been targeting elderly residents or other susceptible victims. Thousand Oaks Police have seen an increasing number of telephone scams where the criminal calls a resident and informs them that their family member is in jail in another country. The criminal pretends to be a law enforcement official and advises the victim that they need to act quickly or their loved ones safety may be in jeopardy. Officials have seen a majority of these fraudulent telephone calls originating from Canadian telephone area codes. The fraudulent official requests that money by “wired” via a major money wire transfer company (i.e. Western Union or MoneyGram) to an overseas location (in particular, Latin American countries.) Within a short period of time, the funds can be paid out to the person receiving the wire transfer and the victim will have suffered a financial loss as a result of this telephone scam.

Ventura County residents can protect themselves from this type of telephone scam by not proceeding with the transaction until you have personally confirmed an emergency situation (i.e. family member in jail.) This can easily be done by calling the family member and checking on their welfare. If the affected family member is unavailable then reach out to other family members or individuals who can assist you in this situation.