Law Enforcement Impersonation Scam

Scammers in Southern California are impersonating LA County Sheriff's deputies to extort money from residents by claiming they have arrest warrants and threatening immediate arrest or jail time. The scammers use caller ID spoofing technology to display official law enforcement numbers, obtain personal information from public voter records and online data brokers, and pressure victims to pay bogus fines via cryptocurrency or wire transfers, with at least one victim losing $1,200 before realizing the fraud. Law enforcement warns that legitimate agencies never call to demand payment and advises residents to hang up and verify claims by contacting the actual agency directly.

This video essay discusses political corruption allegations in India, focusing on how the BJP appears to avoid corruption charges while opposition parties face various scams and legal actions. The video then explains the 2G spectrum scam of 2008, where the Indian government allocated mobile spectrum to companies at artificially low prices through administrative allocation rather than auction, resulting in an estimated loss of 1.76 lakh crore to the national treasury—a controversy that contributed to the fall of the UPA government and led the Supreme Court to cancel 112 spectrum licenses in 2012. **Note:** This is a political commentary/educational piece rather than a scam affecting individual elders, so it falls outside the typical scope of

A multi-million dollar "grandparent scam" targeting Canadian seniors has been shut down after defrauding over 100 grandparents of $2.2 million. Scammers impersonated police officers, judges, lawyers, and family members, calling seniors on landlines claiming a grandchild needed bail money, exploiting their desire to help family in distress. Fourteen suspects operating from the Montreal area have been arrested and charged in a joint investigation by Ontario and Quebec police.

A Canadian crime syndicate was dismantled following a multi-province investigation, resulting in the arrest of 14 suspects in the Montreal area for conducting grandparent scams that defrauded seniors of at least $2.2 million. The organized criminals contacted seniors via landlines, impersonating police officers, judges, lawyers, and family members to convince victims that grandchildren needed emergency financial help, ultimately victimizing 126 people across Canada, including 15 who were scammed multiple times.

According to an FBI report, Florida seniors over age 60 lost more than $290 million to fraud in 2023, ranking the state second worst in the nation, with scams targeting this age group increasing 11% from 2022 and averaging nearly $34,000 per victim. The most common fraud schemes include investment scams, fake tech support, online romance scams, and law enforcement impersonation schemes, with many cases going unreported due to victim shame.

Bradenton police are intensifying efforts to combat financial fraud targeting elderly residents, with citizens losing over $2.5 million to financial crimes in the past year. Scammers from across the country use intimidation tactics and various schemes—including Bitcoin fraud—to frighten victims into surrendering their life savings, with police chief Melanie Bevon pledging increased resources to combat the victimization.

In Tennessee, 1,577 seniors over age 60 lost a combined $43 million to fraud in one year, according to the FBI. A retired insurance salesman fell victim to a sophisticated impersonation scam where fraudsters posing as Amazon and Social Security Administration officials convinced him his identity had been compromised and involved in money laundering. Remarkably, this victim recovered his stolen money—an extremely rare outcome in elder fraud cases.

An 80-year-old veteran in Braton lost $1.5 million in a multi-state scam involving impersonators posing as federal agents who claimed to need his help with a Social Security fraud sting operation. Over the course of a month, the scammers convinced him to transfer his retirement funds into gold bars and conduct organized drop-offs at multiple locations, ultimately leading to the arrest of one woman allegedly connected to the operation. Police report this is a trending scheme affecting multiple states and have launched a new unit to combat elder fraud.

**Not applicable for Elderus database.** This article discusses copyright disclaimers and their legal effectiveness in entertainment and media contexts. It does not address elder fraud, scams, elder abuse, or related financial crimes affecting older adults. This content falls outside the scope of the Elderus elder fraud research database.

Volusia County Sheriff's Office partnered with a free community screening of the film "Thelma"—which depicts a 93-year-old grandmother being scammed—to raise awareness about elder fraud, which costs older Americans billions of dollars annually and significantly affects Central Florida seniors. Law enforcement officers provided prevention advice to attendees, emphasizing strategies such as not answering unknown phone numbers, ignoring unfamiliar text messages, and contacting police or trusted neighbors when uncertain.