VERMILION PARISH, La. (KLFY)-- The Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office was recently notified of a Cyber Scam that impacted a resident in the parish.

The victim was contacted via text message by an individual who identified themselves as "Sam." In the message, the individual asserted that they worked for a local bank and requested a call back from the victim. Since the victim banks with the bank mentioned in the text message, she called the number to speak to "Sam," who stated that he worked in the fraud department of the bank. "Sam" stated that her information and bank account had been compromised by a bank employee. 

The victim was then instructed to withdraw $5,000 but could not tell the bank teller why she needed the money. The victim was further instructed to purchase gift cards and text photos of the cards and receipts. The victim was told that she would receive a new debit card and account information the following day. After following the instructions, the victim tried to contact the phone numbers from the text message and the call, and the numbers were no longer valid. 

LT. Regina Suire with the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division said 

“We’ll get the call. We'll start investigating it. If we are able to track down where she purchased the card. If we're able to get information on the phone number that she texted the pictures too we might be able to get a search warrant to be able to find out who the owner or an IP address or something of that sort for the cell phone and then we can go from there but several times where once they tell us that that's what they did and we trying to find out who the number belongs to we can’t because it's people from out of the country.” 

To prevent incidents like these from happening again Lt. Suire warned about some of red flags to watch out for.

“A lot of red flags to look for is if they tell you to purchase gift cards or green dot cards or any type of card that's a red flag." Lt. Suire said. "If you were told to text a picture of the gift card and the receipt. If they tell you not to tell the bank teller why you're withdrawing money. If they tell you to stay on the phone with them while you purchase the gift card. If they argue with you if you originally agreed to purchase the card, but then change your mind and if you are told not to talk to anyone when you purchase these cards, those are a few of the red flags to look for.” 

Lt. Suire continue to recommend that if you come in contact with scammers like these to be sure to discontinue these interactions.

“If they do receive some type of the email a text message or a phone call from someone stating that they're either with a bank that you bank with or of another bank hang up with them don't call the number that they're telling you to call hang up with them search for the phone number for that bank online then call that number directly to see if this is legit or not. They need to just be aware of who they're talking to. Look for these red flags that way they can protect their money and themselves.” Lt. Suire said.

Remember, you can stop crime before it continues to happen. More information on reporting any illegal activities can be found on www.VermilionSheriff.gov. Click on Anonymous Tips and fill out the Tip Form to submit information. You can also report criminal activity anonymously by calling the Crime Stoppers tip line at (337) 740-TIPS (8477) or you can download and login to the P3 App where you can earn a cash reward. 

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