Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcoming Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson on a story that
you may have seen the Mike mcnight reported over on
Channel six, and it is disturbing for seniors particularly. But Aaron,
good morning. You got a guy from Florida that came
up here several times this summer and got away with
forty five thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Huh, Yeah, we hooked a big one, Gary, Our investigators
hooked a big one. They hooked a Florida smisherman who
was trying to hook a lot of our citizens. So,
you know, DCSO really prides itself on leading the charge
and being the experts and going after these fraudsters and
scammers that tried to deplete the bank accounts of hard
working families and seniors. And we did a good job
in this case, partner with the Douglas County Atorney's office.
(00:42):
Just do that. So you've heard of fishing with an
apt the great American pastime catfish fishing pH that's where
people try to fraud you with email. Smishing is when
they try to fraud you via text message. So here's
the scam. They send you a text message, Hey, your
bank account, your credit card, your debit card has been compromised.
Did you authorize this charge? Charge? Say no, replied no.
(01:02):
If you did not, as soon as you reply no,
another person gets that message and they call you and
they pretend to be your bank and they say, okay, great, glad, glad,
you let us know where we're going to take steps
right now to secure your account. Let us know your
account number and everything. And as soon as you let
that information go, the scamming group in this case down
(01:23):
in Florida sends that information to an actual courier who now,
as soon as he's got your banking information, he uploads
it to his cell phone and he adds it to
his digital wallet. So now you can do the tap
to pay at any gas station store by money owners.
But they're not going to do it in Florida. So
they get on a plane, they get tickets, they fly
(01:44):
up to Omaha, and they do tap to pay buy
money grams and other expensive items. And in this case
it was nearly forty five thousand dollars in loss to
three banks. We worked really well with the banks, and
thank goodness for Douglas Kenny, Turney down Klein. Once we
proved who the courier were was. We got multiple felony
(02:06):
warrants for his arrest and the authorized extradition all the
way from Miami, Florida, and we just brought him back
into custody on October thirty first and Halloween.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Great. You know one of the questions I always ask,
although I've stopped asking because it's intractable, but whenever I
have Jim Hegerty from the Better Business, we're on, why
can't we catch these people? Well, in this case, you did?
How did that happen? How did how are we able
to trace this guy down?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, again, that's DCSO is kind of the regional subject
matter expert on financial crimes, and so it was his
digital trail. It took a lot of time. Our investigators
are very good at it, but with repetition comes expertise,
and it makes it a little easier for them to
track these guys down via their digital trail, facial recognition
cameras from the places that he committed the tap to
(02:52):
pay fraud, that at the various places in Omaha. But
there's something folks need to know. If you get one
of these messages, even if you think it might be legitimate,
the best way to communicate with your bank or your
credit card or your debit card is either at the
phone number on the back of your card or at
the bank itself, with a banker or a bank that
(03:13):
you know and trust. Don't ever talk to anybody that
you're not one hundred and ten percent sure is not
your bank or your credit card company on the phone.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Well, in the case of my financial institution, and I
assume most of them operate this way, if they see
something that seems unusual, they'll I'll get a text and
an email from them, okay, And about ninety eight percent
of the time, I may have ordered something that originates
(03:42):
in a foreign country and they just want to be sure,
and I appreciate that service, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
But and that's why these scammers are getting so good,
because in this case, they actually buy plane tickets to
Douglas County to be able to perform the actual fraud
theft itself, so that they don't throw up a flag
warning from the banks of the credit card companies. So
these guys are getting really, really good, and that's why
we appreciate you and your audience helping us to spread
(04:10):
the word on it so they can help defend themselves
in their bank accounts and their retirement security.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Well the other thing, and I'm a big advocate of
community banks. And that's not to say that the big
banks are bad, because we got plenty of big banks
around here. But one of the best ways to ensure
security is to work with a local bank. And we
have them too. So if this worries you, you might consider
looking for a local, locally owned, locally operated bank, community bank.
(04:36):
Why would that be better because they have they're easier
to get to, and they have people on the ground here.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
If you have a question.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Funny you mentioned that. It's funny you mention that because
it was our local banks here, local credit unions, local
banks that work so well, members of the Nebraska Banking Association,
that works so well with our investigators in this case
and consistently in many cases, that they're the ones that
worked with us hand in hand to identify and help
bring this fraudture to justice. To your point, well taken.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Two quick questions before we run sureff, what will happen
if this guy to him that this guy is convicted?
Number two, are the banks going to cover the losses
for the people?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yes? In this case, the banks are the victims. And
the people's losses as long as they report it to
the banks, their losses are protected by the banks. And
so obviously you know the banks are they're victims too,
and they're going to pass their their cost off to
insurance companies and to their customers. But yes, in these
cases the initial victims here that the bank is going
(05:38):
to cover their loss. But if people were not closely
watching their bank accounts, they could easily be out ten
to fifteen thousand dollars and not even notice it until
six twelve months later. So it's very important not only
to not fall for the scam, but keep a close
eye on your accounts.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So what's the penalty for this guy.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
If he's going to be He's facing multiple Class two
A felonies for stef by receiving and fraud. He's sitting
in Douglas kinning corrections right now in a quarter million bond.
He's got to come up with twenty five thousand dollars
ten percent to get out. He'll be on Pretroveroli's supervision.
Wouldn't be surprised if he tries to high tail it
(06:18):
back to Miami, but you know, hopefully we'll at least
keep him here long enough to bring him to justice,
and we're not done. We're going to go after his
co conspirators too, as soon as we can identify him.
We need to, We need to send a strong message,
don't mess with Douglas County, Nebraska. If you victimize our people,
We're going to come after you aggressively.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Awesome Sheriff, Thanks have you on. Douglas County Sheriff Aaron
Handsome
Welcoming Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson on a story that
you may have seen the Mike mcnight reported over on
Channel six, and it is disturbing for seniors particularly. But Aaron,
good morning. You got a guy from Florida that came
up here several times this summer and got away with
forty five thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Huh, Yeah, we hooked a big one, Gary, Our investigators
hooked a big one. They hooked a Florida smisherman who
was trying to hook a lot of our citizens. So,
you know, DCSO really prides itself on leading the charge
and being the experts and going after these fraudsters and
scammers that tried to deplete the bank accounts of hard
working families and seniors. And we did a good job
in this case, partner with the Douglas County Atorney's office.
(00:42):
Just do that. So you've heard of fishing with an
apt the great American pastime catfish fishing pH that's where
people try to fraud you with email. Smishing is when
they try to fraud you via text message. So here's
the scam. They send you a text message, Hey, your
bank account, your credit card, your debit card has been compromised.
Did you authorize this charge? Charge? Say no, replied no.
(01:02):
If you did not, as soon as you reply no,
another person gets that message and they call you and
they pretend to be your bank and they say, okay, great, glad, glad,
you let us know where we're going to take steps
right now to secure your account. Let us know your
account number and everything. And as soon as you let
that information go, the scamming group in this case down
(01:23):
in Florida sends that information to an actual courier who now,
as soon as he's got your banking information, he uploads
it to his cell phone and he adds it to
his digital wallet. So now you can do the tap
to pay at any gas station store by money owners.
But they're not going to do it in Florida. So
they get on a plane, they get tickets, they fly
(01:44):
up to Omaha, and they do tap to pay buy
money grams and other expensive items. And in this case
it was nearly forty five thousand dollars in loss to
three banks. We worked really well with the banks, and
thank goodness for Douglas Kenny, Turney down Klein. Once we
proved who the courier were was. We got multiple felony
(02:06):
warrants for his arrest and the authorized extradition all the
way from Miami, Florida, and we just brought him back
into custody on October thirty first and Halloween.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Great. You know one of the questions I always ask,
although I've stopped asking because it's intractable, but whenever I
have Jim Hegerty from the Better Business, we're on, why
can't we catch these people? Well, in this case, you did?
How did that happen? How did how are we able
to trace this guy down?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, again, that's DCSO is kind of the regional subject
matter expert on financial crimes, and so it was his
digital trail. It took a lot of time. Our investigators
are very good at it, but with repetition comes expertise,
and it makes it a little easier for them to
track these guys down via their digital trail, facial recognition
cameras from the places that he committed the tap to
(02:52):
pay fraud, that at the various places in Omaha. But
there's something folks need to know. If you get one
of these messages, even if you think it might be legitimate,
the best way to communicate with your bank or your
credit card or your debit card is either at the
phone number on the back of your card or at
the bank itself, with a banker or a bank that
(03:13):
you know and trust. Don't ever talk to anybody that
you're not one hundred and ten percent sure is not
your bank or your credit card company on the phone.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Well, in the case of my financial institution, and I
assume most of them operate this way, if they see
something that seems unusual, they'll I'll get a text and
an email from them, okay, And about ninety eight percent
of the time, I may have ordered something that originates
(03:42):
in a foreign country and they just want to be sure,
and I appreciate that service, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
But and that's why these scammers are getting so good,
because in this case, they actually buy plane tickets to
Douglas County to be able to perform the actual fraud
theft itself, so that they don't throw up a flag
warning from the banks of the credit card companies. So
these guys are getting really, really good, and that's why
we appreciate you and your audience helping us to spread
(04:10):
the word on it so they can help defend themselves
in their bank accounts and their retirement security.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Well the other thing, and I'm a big advocate of
community banks. And that's not to say that the big
banks are bad, because we got plenty of big banks
around here. But one of the best ways to ensure
security is to work with a local bank. And we
have them too. So if this worries you, you might consider
looking for a local, locally owned, locally operated bank, community bank.
(04:36):
Why would that be better because they have they're easier
to get to, and they have people on the ground here.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
If you have a question.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Funny you mentioned that. It's funny you mention that because
it was our local banks here, local credit unions, local
banks that work so well, members of the Nebraska Banking Association,
that works so well with our investigators in this case
and consistently in many cases, that they're the ones that
worked with us hand in hand to identify and help
bring this fraudture to justice. To your point, well taken.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Two quick questions before we run sureff, what will happen
if this guy to him that this guy is convicted?
Number two, are the banks going to cover the losses
for the people?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yes? In this case, the banks are the victims. And
the people's losses as long as they report it to
the banks, their losses are protected by the banks. And
so obviously you know the banks are they're victims too,
and they're going to pass their their cost off to
insurance companies and to their customers. But yes, in these
cases the initial victims here that the bank is going
(05:38):
to cover their loss. But if people were not closely
watching their bank accounts, they could easily be out ten
to fifteen thousand dollars and not even notice it until
six twelve months later. So it's very important not only
to not fall for the scam, but keep a close
eye on your accounts.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So what's the penalty for this guy.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
If he's going to be He's facing multiple Class two
A felonies for stef by receiving and fraud. He's sitting
in Douglas kinning corrections right now in a quarter million bond.
He's got to come up with twenty five thousand dollars
ten percent to get out. He'll be on Pretroveroli's supervision.
Wouldn't be surprised if he tries to high tail it
(06:18):
back to Miami, but you know, hopefully we'll at least
keep him here long enough to bring him to justice,
and we're not done. We're going to go after his
co conspirators too, as soon as we can identify him.
We need to, We need to send a strong message,
don't mess with Douglas County, Nebraska. If you victimize our people,
We're going to come after you aggressively.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Awesome Sheriff, Thanks have you on. Douglas County Sheriff Aaron
Handsome
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