Crime Prevention & New Crime Trends

For More Details visit FL Crime Information Center

Bank Jugging

“Bank Jugging” is a popular crime targeting victims at banks and retail stores. Criminals will follow victims to parking lots and then steal their money and valuables. Val parking lots are popular targets for this type of crime. Be sure to take precautions.

Reminders for EVERYONE:

When banking, be aware of your surroundings and people inside & outside the bank.

Hide your cash before walking out of the bank. Don’t flaunt a money bag or envelope.

Be on the lookout for anyone you believe might be following you.

Try to go directly to your final destination with no extra stops.

If you HAVE to make a stop for another errand, DO NOT leave cash anywhere in your vehicle.

If you see something suspicious or if something doesn’t feel right, don’t hesitate to call 911

Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemes

You get a call. There's a panicked voice on the line. It's your grandson. He says he's in deep trouble — he wrecked the car and landed in jail. But you can help by sending money. You take a deep breath and think. You've heard about grandparent scams. But darn, it sounds just like him. How could it be a scam? Voice cloning, that's how.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a far-fetched idea out of a sci-fi movie. We're living with it, here and now. A scammer could use AI to clone the voice of your loved one. All he needs is a short audio clip of your family member's voice — which he could get from content posted online — and a voice-cloning program. When the scammer calls you, he’ll sound just like your loved one.

So how can you tell if a family member is in trouble or if it’s a scammer using a cloned voice?

Don’t trust the voice. Call the person who supposedly contacted you and verify the story. Use a phone number you know is theirs. If you can’t reach your loved one, try to get in touch with them through another family member or their friends.

Scammers ask you to pay or send money in ways that make it hard to get your money back. If the caller says to wire money, send cryptocurrency, or buy gift cards and give them the card numbers and PINs, those could be signs of a scam.

If you spot a scam, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

New Gas Station Crime Spree called "Sliding"

There is a new crime wave sweeping across America called "sliding." This occurs, mostly to women pumping gas at gas stations. View this alarming video report on sliders. The way to prevent from becoming a victim is to make sure windows are up and car doors are locked while you are pumping gas. A good tip is to always keep windows up and doors locked everywhere you go. You have to think ahead to prevent yourself from becoming a crime victim. Sliding is a crime of opportunity. Do not give criminals an opportunity! Be safe.

Diversion Burglaries

In this type of crime, a person knocks on your door and even may look official or be wearing some type of company shirt in order to distract you so another person can enter the back of your home to steal your jewelry, belongings, etc. Beware of suspicious people knocking on your door and call police if it doesn't look right. Always keep all exterior doors and windows locked even when you are at home.

Crime Prevention in Your Neighborhood

We are fortunate to live in a safe community, however, that does not mean we should let our guard down. The majority of property crimes like burglary and theft are crimes of opportunity. In almost every case, in our community over the past few years where a burglary and/or theft of items has occurred, the suspect(s) made entry through unlocked doors and took items. These are opportunity crimes. These crimes are completely preventable by always locking your car and home doors and keeping windows closed and locked when you are away from home. Garage doors should always be kept closed unless you are working in it or outside. One national law enforcement study showed that 10% of the population is totally honest 100% of the time and 10% of the population is totally dishonest. That leaves the 80% in the middle that are basically honest people, but if the opportunity arises, they may commit a crime of opportunity. An example would be where one of the 80% gets out of his car in a parking lot and sees a wallet laying on the seat of the car, with the windows down, next to him and he takes the wallet.

IRS Imposter Scams

Read the brochure below on IRS Imposter scams. This is one of the most prevalent scams occurring in recent months. There are phone rooms in other countries that have many callers employed who follow scripts in conducting these scams. The bottom line is, no government agency or other legitimate company would ever require you to purchase a prepaid card and give them information over the phone or through an email. They will threaten to arrest you if you do not purchase a card immediately and call them with the routing numbers. This is a scam. Read the IRS Scam brochure.

High Tech Auto Burglaries

Watch the video below for details about a new high tech way that crooks get into your vehicle. If you ever see anyone suspiciously walking between cars in a parking lot, report it to Police immediately. Make sure to never leave your purse or other valuables in your vehicle. Lets not make it easy for criminals! Watch video.

Click and print these informative crime prevention flyers