Loudoun County Sheriff shares helpful hints for fraud awareness week

LEESBURG, Va. (WDVM) — It’s international fraud awareness week and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is helping residents protect themselves against this crime that happens every day.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, more than 1.4 million fraud cases were reported last year. Sheriff Mike Chapman said that people should be aware of the many different types of fraud, employee impostor scams, and utility scams. In addition, businesses should be aware of scammers providing bad checks.

“If you have a business, its the same type of thing they can call you up and take advantage of you as well. The IRS scam or some other businesses’ trying to infringe on another company can say hey look this is what we have going, we need money to support this or to pay for that or if you don’t do this” said Chapman.

Officials advise everyone to learn about ways to protect themselves against fraud because they say this is one of the fastest-growing types of crime.