PERRY, Ga. — After seeing an uptick in white-collar crimes and scams since recovering from the pandemic, the Perry Police Department is trying to prevent the community from falling into traps.
These days, officers say, it's gotten so out of hand that even the families of two officers in the department investigating these cases have become victims.
"I actually use the word 'evil' for a lot of 'em," Detective Ike Wilcox said.
Since December of 2022, Wilcox said he's been holding "Stop the Scam" classes, which is around the time his department started getting more cases.
While people mostly stayed at home during the pandemic, Wilcox said that was an opportunity for criminals to develop their skills to trap more people.
Since starting the seminars, Wilcox said he's held 21 group classes with over 600 attendees, a radio broadcast, three podcasts, and several articles.
Virtually, however, nobody is safe, he explained.
Wilcox explained his wife was victimized by a scam in January.
Their case is still under investigation, so he can't share details, but he shared, "It was a payment that was done over the phone to a person who we believed was legitimate and was not."
The detective explained scammers look for a particular type of person.
"The problem is that the criminals prey on the working, law-abiding people who are doing their best to live their lives normally and to do the right thing," Wilcox said.
"Well, the criminals are aware of that, and they rely on that type of victim because that kind of victim does not think anything is suspicious," Wilcox continued. "They think everything is ok."
The detective's advice is to be mindful, use your common sense and don't allow your emotions to control you.
Scammers, he explained, try to put you under a sense of false pressure as a trap tactic.
"But be suspicious, to begin with, slow down with your decisions, and ask lots of questions. Educate yourself." Wilcox said.
He elaborated, "If you have any doubts, something may seem odd, it probably is. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, there's a good chance it's a duck."
Paper checks are one thing you should be especially careful about these days, because of an outdated system.
"I strongly discourage the use of paper checks," Wilcox said.
Using written paper checks are especially vulnerable, Wilcox explained.
If you can, he suggests, try to coordinate an electronic payment with your bank and don't mail your checks; instead, deliver those yourself if possible.
"If someone intercepts a check, they could either wash that check, which I teach in my class, or they can simply buy a check printer with check stock that is publicly available at any office supply store or Amazon, and they can reprint," Wilcox explained.
Education is prevention, the detective said.
Wilcox's classes are free and open to the public; he welcomes you to contact him to arrange a class for your community.
You can reach Detective Ike Wilcox at john.wilcox@perry-ga.gov and 478-988-2848.