The Public Security Police (PSP) warns, in a statement, of the significant increase in the number of scams in our country, indicating that they represent “more than 17% of all crime” reported in the area under its responsibility.
According to the data provided, the PSP registered 19,653 fraud crimes in 2021, 23,982 in 2022, and 30,342 last year.
“Scams are largely responsible for the increase in general crime reported in 2023, representing 17.44% of all crime reported in the PSP’s area of responsibility,” the document reads.
The PSP notes that despite there being greater access to information and a more informed population, the famous “con man” continues to be an effective way of illegitimately obtaining other people’s property value.
The elderly continue to be the preferred victims of scammers when it comes to the in-person mode of operation, although in recent years, and in line with technological developments and the potential of the digital world, suspects have also targeted victims whose ages span all age groups.
Despite the high number of reports of fraud, the arrest rate is low, taking into account the difficulty “in detecting the suspect in flagrante delicto and proceeding with his arrest”, says the police, who arrested 38 people in 2021, 58 in 2022, and 79 in 2023.
According to the PSP, this is a very complex type of crime to investigate, “making it difficult to identify potential suspects and their subsequent arrest”, also noting that this security force “does not have full jurisdiction to investigate fraud, as determined by the Criminal Investigation Organization Law, which limits the police effect of close and timely criminal investigation”.
According to the security force, in 2023 the scams were responsible for a loss of asset value exceeding 110,339,200 euros, tripling the value of the loss verified in 2022, which was 34,989,992 euros.
PSP advice to prevent and avoid scams:
- Do not transfer any type of money to people who advertise on the Internet, unless you are sure that the advertiser is legitimate;
- Keep all email exchanges, photos and messages, in case the lease does not go as agreed or you have been the victim of fraud and immediately report the crime to the authorities;
- After making the payment, if the advertiser informs you that they have not received any amount or that there are problems with the processing, requesting a new payment, immediately contact the bank to try to understand the veracity of the situation. If fraud is found, immediately cancel the payment already made;
- Do not access addresses sent via emails from other platforms to carry out the transaction, as you may be being sent a fake page;
- Request references or additional data about the products for sale, the properties to be rented or the subject of the contract in general (examples of other photos, from specific perspectives, among others);
- Research the advertiser’s details and contacts, as there may be references to previous scams, especially on thematic forums or blogs;
- Be wary of advertisements where prices are clearly below market value, even if such price is allegedly based on a valid reason;
- Ads that persist over time are more likely to be true because, after the first reports, most servers delete the ads and advertisers;
- Search the images shown in the ad to check whether they are genuine or taken from other platforms;
- Be wary of owners who do not provide a telephone number in the advert, whose number is foreign or who can never be contacted;
- Be suspicious if the advertisement is poorly written, or if there are grammatical errors, punctuation errors or incorrect verb tenses in the email exchange, indicating that translators were used;
- Inconsistency between the owner’s language, nationality, telephone number, country of residence and origin of the IBAN is indicative of fraud;
- Do not make transfers to foreign bank accounts, as they are often used in fraudulent schemes.
Advice for scams carried out in person:
- If you detect any strange movement in your building or neighborhood, contact the PSP immediately;
- Speak to the local police officers and tell them any suspicious details, such as “new” people and vehicles on your street, noting down their characteristics and license plates. Always have the emergency contact details and the local police station within easy reach;
- If someone knocks on your door to ask for information, do not open it. Listen to the message and write it down on paper. If you open the door, always keep the security chain closed and do not allow strangers to enter your home;
- Do not provide your personal data or answer questionnaires about yourself without knowing whether it is trustworthy and which company it belongs to. You can call the company in question and confirm the existence of such a survey or data collection;
- Do not receive any order that you have not requested or that is not in your name;
- Do not tell anyone if you have valuable objects in your home and do not discuss family habits or routines with other people. Do not keep large amounts of money at home and keep valuable objects in safes;
- Don’t be fooled by the presence of children.
Source: rr.sapo.pt
