Edinburg Police warns of 'rise' in online scams

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Edinburg Police Department is warning residents of scams as they are seeing a rise in online fraud cases.

They say several community members and local businesses have already fallen victim. The perpetrators stem from local to national and international individuals.

Boutique Owner Janat Jennings of the Rep Shop says she deals with scam attempts almost daily.

“A lot of people will buy into it thinking that it is going to help their business grow and in reality, it is just a bot that stole your information and a lot of times your accounts even get blocked," Jennings said.

She says they will make fake profiles of her business on social media and host giveaways to lure customers and steal their information. She has also had to deal with scammers trying to convince small business owners that they are breaking the law.

“A lot of people would think that 'oh my god I don’t want to be shut down because I have so many followers', and so they would send all the information of their business, and they steal it," Jennings said. "You have to be very careful because something that is legit is not going to reach you through message.”

Online scams do not just impact businesses. People can also be targeted by them and cause financial and personal information harm.

Mario Salinas, owner of Fast Mario’s Barber Shop has not been targeted, but he has fallen victim to online fraud.

“They offered a recliner for like $60, and I buy it but they didn’t bring or ship it to me, so I lost the $60," Salinas said.

He clicked on an online ad about furniture for clearance from what seemed a reputable store online. Salinas lost his money and had to do damage control with his bank to protect his information.

Edinburg Police Lieutenant Gabriel Vela-Reyna says the best thing you can do to protect yourself from fraud is to avoid any oversharing online and report anything that looks suspicious.

“Do not share your personal information," Vela-Reyna said. "Do not share any intimate photos. Do not share anything that you wouldn't want the public to see. When you do have doubts and receive text message or email, just you can do a follow-up directly with the company.”

Those who feel they have been targeted by a scam, can contact the Edinburg Police Department at its non-emergency number (956) 289-7700.