CINCINNATI —

The struggle is real for local families trying to feed their babies. Now scammers are preying on them online like Facebook and Craigslist, to try and trick families into buying formula and not receiving it.

Carol Claussen is a stay-at-home mother of three, most recently NICU twins. Staying away from scammers she spends her time searching store by store for baby formula.

"I put those orders in and loaded up my two babies and my 3-year-old and we went driving around and picked up this formula," Claussen said. “We spent the better part of our morning and afternoon just driving around the city and picking up formula."

Three hours, driving more than 70 miles and more than five stores. The twins are on a special formula for prematurity that takes more calories than regular store formula. The formula shortages now spilling over into non-similac brands.

“While that formula was not affected by the recall it was very hard to find. So we switched to just plain store brand formulas shouldn’t be anything difficult to find — but it is," she said.

Claussen normally goes through a tub and a half of formula in one feeding day. Now one tub must last two days for the twins.

“Obviously I don’t want to see the other moms struggling but it is so nice that when the world is going crazy that we as moms are coming together and really fighting for each other," Claussen said.

Authorities are sounding the alarm about yet another scam. Scammers are pretending to be law enforcement and are threatening arrest for past violations unless victims pay money.

Macomb County Sheriff public information officer Sergeant Renee Yax knows all too well what is going on.

“I would say the scams are becoming a more prominent report that we’re taking lately. And the scam artists are getting much more proficient in what they do,” said Sergeant Renee Yax, a Michigan sheriff's public information officer.

She says they have a number of tricks up their sleeve.

“We find that the scam artists are able to spoof our phone number. So therefore when the numbers comes up on the victim’s caller ID, it shows Macomb County Sheriff’s Office,” Yax said. “They’re good too. They’re doing their research before they’re calling these people. I mean most people don’t know that information is easily available online.”

Zach didn’t. And he was nearly a victim.

“I didn’t answer the call. And then they left me a voicemail. And there was a detailed message with callback numbers in the voicemail,” Zach explained.

He called back. The woman on the other end said she was with pretrial claims services. Then the threats came flying at him.

“They’re going to send police to my house, and I’m going to have a warrant for my arrest, and they’re going to garnish my wages. I mean, everything,” said Zach detailing the threats.

What did they want? Money, of course.

“They actually told me they wanted $1,100,” explained Zach.

He said he almost gave his credit card information over the phone. However, some details the woman on the other end gave didn’t add up. Still, she knew lots about him, like previous addresses. She even called his dad and stepmom.

“That information, however they obtained that information, is very unsettling,” said Zach.

Sergeant Yax said it is easy to find public information on people. She explained one group being targeted by the scammers are sex offenders.

“You can give an address and it will search a certain radius to show you where any registered sex offenders are,” said Yax, showing how the names then pop up on screen.

She explained the scammer can google those names for even more personal information.

Alan Castel, a Professor of psychology at UCLA, started studying how older people could fall for scams. However, he quickly realized anyone can be victimized.

“We all have our insecurities and that’s what makes us kind of prone to being targeted for scams and fraud,” said Castel.

He detailed the core of the scammers’ techniques.

“They really try and take advantage of your emotions. So really trying to put you in stressful situations, making you rush to make decisions,” Castel explained.

He said people who have had prior run-ins with the law are more not necessarily more at risk of being scammed.

“Just because you’ve had some prior criminal history or any history doesn’t make you any more or less susceptible. It’s just that this information is being used against you to try and target your money or your time,” said Castel.

He said the best thing people can do is speak up.

“You shouldn’t feel ashamed because other people are in the same boat. And in fact you might be helping them by telling them about this scam that’s out there. So you might actually be helping other people so they don’t fall for the same scam in the future,” said Castel.

That’s why Zach is sharing his story.

“It’s hard to trick me. You know I’m very perspicacious so it’s very hard. They almost got me. And if they almost got me, odds are they’ve gotten, who knows, maybe millions of people,” said Zach.

This story was originally published by WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan.

A census scam is taking advantage of the public’s confusion regarding the stimulus payments that were sent out by the government to aid Americans during the coronavirus crisis.

The

Better Business Bureau

says the goal of the scammers is to get their hands on your personal information, which they’ll use to steal your identity.

“The 2020 United States Census is happening at the same time as a global pandemic, shelter-in-place orders, and government stimulus payments,” wrote the BBB. “With so much going on at once, scammers are using the unique circumstances to create confusion.”

Here’s how the scam works:

The BBB says victims receive an unsolicited message via text, email or on social media that explains that in order to qualify for your stimulus payment, you need to first complete the 2020 U.S. Census. Whether or not you’ve completed the real census, don’t click. It’s a scam.

Some versions of the phony message include a link to a website “for more information,” according to the BBB. If you click the link, officials say you could unknowingly download malware onto your computer or phone that can give scammers access to your usernames, passwords, and other personal information stored on your computer.

“In other cases, the link may take you to a website that looks like it was created by the official U.S. Census Bureau,” wrote the BBB. “However, the website is a fake.”

On that website, you’ll be asked for personal information, such as your Social Security number and bank account information. Don’t fill that out. The U.S. Census Bureau does not ask for this information.

The BBB offers these tips on avoiding census scams:

· Know how the U.S. Census Bureau communicates. The U.S. Census Bureau will only send you emails if you already signed up for them, and it will never ask you to send personal information in an email. In addition, the U.S. Census Bureau will never contact you on behalf of a political party.
· Only visit official websites. Valid U.S. government websites almost always end in “.gov”. You can find key information about the 2020 census at

2020census.gov

and information about economic stimulus payments at

irs.gov/coronavirus.

· Never click on links in unsolicited messages. Phishing scams direct you to websites that look official, but these sites may be infected with malware. If you don’t know and trust the person who sent you the message, don’t click on any links.