How Police Decide What Is Worth Investigating?
The Challenge Police Face With ScamsScams A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost.:
As any scamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. victim knows, the local policeLocal Police The Local Police is your first responder in most countries. In most English-speaking countries and in Europe report to them first. In other countries look for your national cybercrime police units to report scams to. In the U.S., Canada, & Australia, you must report to the local police first. (or even national police) can be very reluctant to investigate these crimes. Some local police don’t even want to take a police report (though they will take “informational reports” if a victim insists).
Primarily, this is due to their ignorance about the best practices associated with these crimes and support for the victims.
There is a reason for this and it involves a Law Enforcement process known as “Solvability.”
When a police report is taken, several factors known as “Solvability Factors” go into deciding if a case will be investigated or even followed up on.
After all, why should the police waste precious resources on unsolvable crimes? Even if everything is known, some cases remain unsolvable by their very nature.
There are a number of reasons why local police may be reluctant to investigate online scams. One reason may be a lack of resources and training to properly investigate and prosecute cybercrimesCybercrimes Cybercrime is a crime related to technology, computers, and the Internet. Typical cybercrime are performed by a computer against a computer, or by a hacker using software to attack computers or networks.. Additionally, online scams often cross jurisdictional boundaries, making it difficult for a single agency to investigate and prosecute the crime. Furthermore, many online scams originate from outside the country, making it even more difficult for local law enforcement to investigate and bring charges against the perpetrators. Additionally, some police officers may not understand the technical aspects of online scams and may not know how to properly gather evidence and interview victims.
However, we disagree. There is much that local police can do, including recover the victim’s money.
But it is important to understand their decision-making to try to find reasons why they should help.
Solvability Factors
What are Solvability Factors that the police use to decide to green-light police investigations into these crimes?
Solvability factors are criteria that law enforcement agencies use to evaluate and prioritize criminalCriminal A criminal is any person who through a decision or act engages in a crime. This can be complicated, as many people break laws unknowingly, however, in our context, it is a person who makes a decision to engage in unlawful acts or to place themselves with others who do this. A criminal always has the ability to decide not to break the law, or if they initially engage in crime to stop doing it, but instead continues. cases, and are used to determine whether a crime will be investigated and/or solved. Some of the solvability factors that police use to decide whether to investigate a crime include:
These are the Solvability Factors that determine Police Investigations:
- Quality of evidence: Police will prioritize cases where there is a large amount of evidence that is likely to lead to a conviction. Most scam victims come in very disorganized and it makes it hard for the police to understand the crime.
- Is a suspect known: In the case of online scams – do you have a REAL identity or just fake names. If a suspect has been identified, the police will be more likely to investigate the case.
- A reliable witness with factual information regarding the crime: In the case of scams that is the victim – though sadly not all victims are reliable.
- Witness cooperation: Police are more likely to investigate cases where witnesses are willing to come forward and provide statements or testify in court.
- Is there a description of the suspect that is adequate to separate the suspect from others?
This is where hard data comes in – real photos or videos that are truly of the scammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer.. Rarely do victims have hard-data. - Is there a possible location for the suspect?
Most victims have (at best) a money transfer address, not an actual location for the real scammer. - Can the suspect be identified using photo images, line-up, etc.?
This assumes that you have a real photo of the scammer – unless you have also seen a real-time video with audio you just don’t know. Scammers use stolen photos like toilet paper, and nothing they say can be reliably believed. - Has the victim or witness seen the suspect before or since?
In the case of scams, the answer is generally NO since scams are often conducted by gangsGangs A gang is normally a group or society of associated criminals with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over a territory or business practice in a community and engages, either individually or collectively, in illegal, and possibly violent, behavior. Online gangs are not limited by territory and may operate side by side with other gangs while engaging in crime online. Some members of criminal gangs are initiated (by going through a process of initiation), or have to prove their loyalty and right to belong by committing certain acts, usually theft or violence, or rituals. Gangs are usually rougher and more visible than scammer cartels, and more often arrested., organizations, or teams. You could see a hundred fake identities using the same stolen photo and there is no reason to believe it is even the same group of scammers. - A vehicle with a known license plate, make, model, color, identifiers, etc.: Even if you see a photo of a vehicle on a social media profile how do you know if belongs to the scammer? Remember stolen photos?
- Is stolen property traceable through a known serial number, owner-applied marks, damage, or unique description: This assumes the property is where the police can get to it – this applies mostly in the case of Money MulesMoney mules Money mules are a type of money laundering where a person transfers illicit funds through a medium (such as a bank account) to obfuscate where the money came from. There are different types of money mules including witting, unwitting, and complicit.. However, now with cryptocurrency scams, the money is traceable and recoverable.
- Community impact: Crimes that have a significant impact on the community, such as violent crimes or crimes that are affecting a large number of people, will be given a higher priority. With online and phone scams it impacts virtually everyone in their community, they just do not understand that.
- Is there a distinct pattern or method (“M.O.”) linking the suspect to multiple crimes?
Here the problem is that there are just too many criminals doing exactly the same thing. It is institutional. It is international. It is global. There are over 100,000 professional scammers working at any time now. - Is there usable physical evidence such as DNA, fingerprints, surveillance video/photos, etc.?
This is always no. Not even the Bank Transfer, MoneyGram, or Western Union information is reliable since the money can be picked up by anyone, including by fake names. Even phone numbers are not reliable in an age of forwarding internet phone numbers, and burner phones. Forget about emails, scammer burn through millions of them. - Was there a limited opportunity for the crime that would eliminate other potential suspects?
Again, there are 100,000 other scammers out there! - Is the crime or the suspect within their jurisdiction?
These are almost never within the Police’s jurisdiction, and almost never even in that country! - Available resources: Police departments have limited resources, so they will prioritize cases based on the availability of officers and other resources.
- Probability of success: If the police believe that they have a good chance of solving a case, they will be more likely to investigate it.
These Solvability Factors allow Police Departments around the world to use their resources efficiently.
When you look logically at the problem from the Police’s point of view, almost no online crime is solvable at the local police level, and most do not even at the national level.
Sadly, this is the reason why you receive the response you get when you ask for local police help.
It Is Still Vitally Important That You Report These Crimes To Your Local Police
This enables several beneficial processes and results:
- You obtain a police report which can be used for insurance claims (if applicable), and any possible tax deductions (where applicable).
- It enables the possibility of recovering your money.
- It allows the locality to fully understand how many of these crimes are happening, and they get reported up through to the national level.
- This helps pressure politicians to enact new laws and treaties to better address these crimes.
- Local communities frequently have crime victim assistance and support services that you can take advantage of after you file a report.
It also legitimizes your experience as a crime in the mind of your friends and family. This will help change the way people view you and will aid in the support structure that will help you to recover.
At this stage, we are in a transition period where there used to be little that our police can do, and you can see why they limit their resources and attention to these crimes. But the more they are reported, and the more experience everyone has, the more it will be addressed. Today, there is much that the local police can do – see here.
So always report these crimes to your local police.
Where To Report?
If you lost money: the way to report this is first with your local police – they are your first responders, then always report all scams to the FTCFTC The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) U.S. antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC can also act as a clearinghouse for criminal reports sent to other agencies for investigation and prosecution. To learn more visit www.FTC.gov or to report fraud visit ReportFraud.FTC.gov at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/?orgcode=SCARS and to SCARS at www.Anyscam.com – optionally, you can also report to the FBIFBI FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes, including financial fraud. at www.IC3.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI. In addition, you can call the Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) Tip Line at 1-866-347-2423
You can find more places to report here.
If you did not lose money just report the fake profiles to Facebook or Instagram, etc.
Do The Right Thing! Report The Crime!
Be Safe Online!
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Essential Tools For Every Scam SurvivorSurvivor A Scam Survivor is a victim who has been able to fully accept the reality of their situation. That they were the victim of a crime and are not to blame. They are working on their emotional recovery and reduction of any trauma either on their own, through a qualified support organization, or through counseling or therapy. And has done their duty and reported the crime to their local police, national police, and on Anyscam.com From SCARS Publishing
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SCARS GREEN BOOK
Self-Help Self-Paced Recovery Program Guide
LEARN HOW TO RECOVER ON YOUR OWN
This program is designed to help scam victims struggling to recover on their own and for those who want to understand the overall process. You can be using other resources, such as traumaTrauma Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety or other emotional shocks, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized. Trauma requires treatment, either through counseling or therapy or through trauma-oriented support programs, such as those offered by SCARS. counselingCounseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. A mental health counselor (MHC), or counselor, is a person who works with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. Such persons may help individuals deal with issues associated with addiction and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging. They may also work with "Social Workers", "Psychiatrists", and "Psychologists". SCARS does not provide mental health counseling. or therapy, qualified support groupsSupport Groups In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic, such as romance scams. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping strategies, to feel more empowered and for a sense of community. The help may take the form of providing and evaluating relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to and accepting others' experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks. A support group may also work to inform the public or engage in advocacy. They can be supervised or not. SCARS support groups are moderated by the SCARS Team and or volunteers., or completely independent – on your own!
The SCARS Steps program is a complete program and is provided for the purpose of helping scam victims to overcome this experience. Throughout this SCARS Steps Program, we speak about issues and challenges that a victim may have and help guide them through their recovery. But each person is different and it is important to understand your own reasons for being vulnerable to being scammed.
After the trauma of being scammed, you need to take steps to recover and move on. This may be an alternative to counseling in the short term, but we still encourage you to seek out professional help & support. Throughout this SCARS Steps Program, we speak about issues, challenges, defects, or problems that a victim may have in a generalized way.
The SCARS GREEN BOOK will help you recover from your scam offline and it will always be there when you need it!
SCARS SLATE BOOK – Let Us Explain What Happened!
A Guide For Families & Friends Of Scam Victims
HOW TO HELP ROMANCE SCAM VICTIMS FOR FAMILIES & FRIENDS OF SCAM VICTIMS
This SCARS Publishing book represents a complete guide to help the families and friends understand how these scams work and how to help the victim.
The SCARS Slate Book should be purchased by family and friends to better understand what happened to the victim and the traumatic impact on them. But it can also be shared by the victim so that they do not have to explain to family and friends about the scam. This publication is to help others to help Scam Victims to make it through this traumatic experience and recover.
Each person is different and it is important to understand how relationship scamsRelationship Scam A Relationship Scam is a one-to-one criminal act that involves a trust relationship and uses deception & manipulation to get a victim to give to the criminal something of value, such as money! Click here to learn more: What Is A Relationship Scam? work and why people are vulnerable; to being scammed, how they were lured in, then groomed and manipulated. This understanding is essential in helping them through the process of ending the scam and then on to recovery. The SCARS Slate Book will provide the information necessary to help support a victim through this process.
SCARS RED BOOK
Your Personal Scam Evidence & Crime Record Organizer
ORGANIZE YOUR INFORMATION TO MAKE THE REPORTING PROCESS SIMPLE!
Helps you get and stay organized. This publication is to help Scam Victims organize their crime information. Complete this information before reporting to the police then bring this book with you
Before or after reporting to the police the RED BOOK gives you a dedicated tool to record all the essential facts of this crime. The Victim, the Scammers, the Money, and your Police interactions. Everything that really matters can be easily recorded for your immediate use and for the future!
As we have seen, money recovery/repayment programs can become available years after the scam ends and you need to keep all the details of this crime in case it is needed. We have also seen scammers being extradited to the U.S. and other countries, this will help in the event you testify or give statements, Additionally, this helps you have your information ready to qualify for victims’ benefits, compensation, or aid.
The Official SCARS RED BOOK is your way of recording all the important facts of this crime so that you do not lose essential information, Complete the RED BOOK then put it away with the confidence that you will have it if or when it is needed.
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By the Society of Citizens Against Relationship ScamsSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS. Inc.
A Worldwide Crime Victims Assistance & Crime Prevention Nonprofit Organization Headquartered In Miami Florida USA & Monterrey NL Mexico, with Partners In More Than 60 Countries
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Hi – Will Malaysia police be able to take action against a Romance scammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer. based on tip off?? or news media etc.,?
File a proper report on our site or on http://www.Anyscam.com
Please stop sending messages to me…thank you
Use the unsubscribe option in the email – at least make an effort.
Have 2 people online with the same name stories are very close both need money