Scam-Proofing Brunswick

Armed with experience and a growing caseload, the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Unit is on the front lines of fighting fraud and teaching residents how to spot a scam.

Photography by Emily Flax

Brunswick County continues to be the fastest-growing county in North Carolina, and with this population growth, financial crimes become more prevalent. For scammers, a vibrant economic area brings with it an enticingly large victim pool.

Luckily, the staff of the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Unit (FCU) — Captain Jeff Beck, Team Leader Sergeant Kyle Goodson, Detective Jason Lowrance, Detective Justin Mullis and Detective Kyle White — have a combined total of 80 years working in law enforcement. Helping out the paid staff are three volunteers who were former police and FBI investigators. They assist with the extensive in-depth research and analysis needed in embezzlement cases.

The FCU investigates all kinds of cases such as contractor scams, credit and debit card fraud, wire transfer fraud, embezzlement cases, check washing scams and real estate scams. If it involves money, it’s a Financial Crimes Unit case.

“Financial crimes are exceedingly difficult,” Beck says. “It’s often a suspect-less crime because the criminals can’t be tracked or identified.”

HOW TO SPOT A SCAM

Last Warning! Action Required! Payment Declined! Final Notice! Immediate Payment Required! Account Will Be Suspended! Emergency Response Needed!
What do all these statements have in common?

According to Beck, “The biggest thing that applies to all scams, the common denominator in all these situations, is there is always some kind of emergency.”

The biggest tell of a fraud situation is a sense of urgency. There is always a reason why you must act ASAP. Your package won’t get delivered, your license will be taken away, it’s highly confidential, it’s an active investigation, you can’t tell anyone, you’ll be fined if it’s not handled right now. Scammers are very convincing and keep you on the phone to do what they want, or they keep you emailing or texting back to them to continue the dialogue.

One of the biggest scams going around Brunswick County right now is getting a call about a warrant. But the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) never calls about a warrant.

“If we have an arrest warrant, we will knock on your door and serve it,” Beck says. “Neither the BCSO or any law enforcement agency will call you and ask for money to avoid a warrant.”

HOW DOES A FINANCIAL CRIMES INVESTIGATION BEGIN? WHO REPORTS IT TO YOU?

Detective Jason Lowrance: We receive reports from several different avenues. According to law, if you are over the age of 60 and if banks notice a large amount of money being transferred over a period, they are required to report it. So, we get reports from banks regularly. We also get reports from Adult Protective Services and Social Services. Sometimes neighbors, a friend or family member will call Social Services and report what’s going on or what they see going on. Then we will do a report based on that and start an investigation. Many times we get reports from website tips received from the public or from calls to the 911 number.

I THOUGHT 911 WAS ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES.

Detective Kyle White: Yes, 911 is there for emergencies, but you can call them to report any crime or if you are suspicious of a crime. And, if someone calls you and says they are calling from law enforcement, you can say to them. ‘I’m hanging up now and calling 911 and asking to speak to this person.’ It’s another step of verification that it really is law enforcement calling you. No law enforcement agency is going to be upset with you calling them for that verification.

ARE SENIOR CITIZENS THE MOST VULNERABLE GROUP?

Detective Justin Mullis: Yes and no. Anyone can fall victim to a scam, but many times it is seniors. It is not necessarily because seniors are not tech savvy, but because scammers are exceptionally good at what they do. Often, it is because seniors are isolated without someone to talk to for another opinion. Seniors are also very responsible with their money and do not want other people involved in their finances. If they fall victim to a scam, they usually do not want to come forward and talk about it because they are embarrassed.

ARE THESE SCAMMERS OPERATING FROM A FOREIGN COUNTRY WITH LOTS OF PEOPLE WORKING IN A ROOM?

Detective Jason Lowrance: They are operating in the USA as well. The Georgia prison gang is one of the biggest scamming groups in the country right now. They are operating right from the state prison using the prison inmates. They have internet capabilities and use phones smuggled into the prison. No one has been able to stop it or shut it down, and millions of dollars are being stolen from American citizens. The Secret Service and federal government are looking into it and charging people, but it’s a huge operation and they move money around.

DURING FINANCIAL INVESTIGATIONS, WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART FOR DETECTIVES TO WORK THROUGH?

Detective Kyle White: I think it’s the embarrassment that victims must deal with. In romance or friendship scams, we investigate by looking at all the emails and text messages. It’s an invasive process, and we try to explain to them that it’s okay to be embarrassed. Many of the victims do not want their family members to know because they believe they will think differently of them, and they just don’t want to go there.

We try to help them with that. I have spoken to daughters, sisters, nieces, husbands, sons, everyone, and explained to them how to work with their family member. If it’s a senior and it’s apparent there may be a cognitive decline, we discuss setting up an allowance system or taking over their finances to protect them. We try to get the families involved.

CAN YOU GIVE ME ACTUAL NUMBERS OR STATISTICS FOR 2025 FINANCIAL CRIMES TO PUT THIS INTO PERSPECTIVE?

Detective Jason Lowrance: You might be a bit surprised at the numbers. While property crimes might have 200 reports filed a year, our unit has close to 400 to 500 reports filed a year. And that’s just an estimate. Many people are too embarrassed to report financial crimes, so we don’t know for sure how many more crimes are being committed each year in Brunswick County. As of September 2025, we have over 400 reports filed, so by 2025 year end we anticipate around 500. Of that total amount of reports filed and investigated, only in 15% of the cases will we find enough information and proof to identify the perpetrator and charge them with the crime. Once cases are turned over to the District Attorney’s office, they continue through the prosecution process in coordination with our agency.

15% IS LOW. WHAT CAN THE FCU DO TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PROSECUTIONS FOR FINANCIAL CRIMES?

Sergeant Kyle Goodson: When it comes to fighting financial crimes, we must continue to be proactive. Being vigilant is our best defense. Once the money is gone, it’s usually gone forever and never found. So we must change our perspective on fighting this crime. Our goal is to have fewer people fall victim so we can increase our success rate. We fight this together as a society armed with knowledge.

Sentencing is drastically different for white collar crimes than violent crimes. There are lower sentencing times, and most only receive a probation for a first-time offense since it’s hard to catch them. It’s a very lucrative growing industry, and violent offenders being released from prison learned that they can now scam from computers and no longer hold up people with a gun or show their faces to steal money. People are getting into the scamming game because it’s faceless and untraceable.

WHAT ARE SOME TIPS YOU USE PERSONALLY THAT WE CAN APPLY AS WELL?

Detective Jason Lowrance: There are a few different things you can do or at least be aware of. I like to tell people, if you use your bank to pay bills directly, try to use your credit card instead to pay bills if you don’t want to use your bank. Auto payments with a bank or debit card are not protected, and your debit card is linked directly to your bank and all your money. If a business gets hacked (and many are), your bank account information is already out there. Using a credit card is now safer than using a debit card or your bank account.

People ask how their information got out there, and most times it is from other businesses being hacked. By the time a business realizes they have been hacked, your information has already been out there to steal. If a credit card gets hacked, my money is still safe in the bank. I can just call my credit card company, dispute the charges and get a new card.

Take the time to use and set up the credit card and bank apps. Every time a dollar is spent you can set up an alert and you will get a notice. Scammers assess you by making charges for $1 or $10 to see if you monitor your account before they make several high charges. If a $1 charge goes through undetected, a $500+ charge will go through shortly afterwards before you even know it’s happening.

IS THERE SOMETHING FCU HAS DONE RECENTLY THAT HAS BEEN EFFECTIVE HERE IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY?

Captain Jeff Beck: Yes, a couple of things. About three to six months ago, we had a business that wanted warning signs made so they could put it on their bitcoin machine. Store clerks were observing flustered seniors showing up at their machines, and the employees asked them what was going on. We call it the bitcoin scam. BCSO went out and talked to the manager of the store and came back and created custom signs, got copies made and posted them everywhere there was a bitcoin machine and got permission from the owners or manager of each store. We also posted them at senior centers to make them aware of it, educated store employees and all personnel. One store was very active in collaborating with us, and in a seven-day period, the BCSO saved around $30,000 from getting deposited into just one bitcoin machine.

We noticed at gas stations, convenience stores, wherever ATMs are, that many are becoming crypto favorable, you just run your credit card and you can invest in crypto.

Detective Justin Mullis: There are large penalties to invest in crypto (15 to 30% to deposit $1,000), and at 98% of these ATMs no one is going to use them to actually invest in crypto, no one is going to invest in that way at least, so we know these machines are being used for fraud to pay scammers.

Sergeant Kyle Goodson: Another situation was caught and resolved by the quick thinking of one of our volunteers. A victim fell for a gift card scam by purchasing $9,000 of gift cards at a local Lowe’s store and then gave the card numbers to a person on the line. Volunteer Eric quickly contacted the Lowe’s corporate office and found out that all the cards were used together, and the items purchased were shipped to one address up north. Lowe’s intercepted the shipment, so they didn’t lose their money and they credited the full amount back to the victim.

In gift card scams, items are shipped to an address that no one lives at, a drop-off location or a warehouse is often used so we are unable to catch the scammer in person. This was a rare situation where we were able to prevent the loss before it happened.

Tips to Avoid Being Scammed

According to the BCSO FCU, the four warning signs that are usually present in a scam situation are:
Scammers PRETEND to be from an organization or someone you know.
Scammers say there’s a serious PROBLEM.
Scammers PRESSURE you to act immediately.
Scammers tell you to PAY in a specific way.

QUICK TIPS TO REMEMBER:
Block unwanted calls, text messages and emails immediately.
Don’t give your personal or financial information in response to a request you did not initiate.
Don’t respond to an email or click on any links unless you request it.
Look up a company website or phone number yourself and use that information.
Don’t return a call to the number they gave you or use the number from your caller ID.
Never pay someone who insists that you can only pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer, a payment app or a gift card.
Never deposit a check you were not expecting and send money back to someone.
Take your time. Think things through. Resist the urge to act immediately.
Stop and talk to someone you trust. Talking about it could help you avoid being scammed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION GO TO:
Federal Trade Commission
brunswicksheriff.com/resources/latest-scams
aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/