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Sheriff's deputy warns Carpinteria residents about phone and online fraud; urges reporting to IC3
Summary
A Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputy outlined common fraud schemes — including grandparent, government impersonation, tech-support and romance scams — described local check-washing incidents and urged residents to verify callers and report fraud to local law enforcement and the FBI—s IC3 portal.
Acting chair introduced a Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office briefing on fraud schemes, and Deputy Bridal Pereira described the tactics criminals use to extract money and personal information from victims.
Pereira said the scams typically rely on pressure and impersonation, with perpetrators urging victims to act immediately and to transfer funds by wire or gift card. "They put somebody on the phone that sounded like it could have been somebody in distress," she said, describing a grandparent scam in which a caller claimed a relative was detained and needed money. She advised residents not to click unknown links and to verify any caller who requests personal details.
Pereira described several commonly observed fraud types: callers claiming to be law enforcement or social services demanding payment to avoid arrest or loss of benefits; sweepstakes and charity solicitations with fraudulent links; tech-support schemes that extort payment to "clean" fabricated viruses; and romance scams where victims are persuaded to send substantial funds. She cited local examples, including check "washing" cases affecting Carpinteria and Montecito banks and a romance-scam victim who sent an estimated $150,000.
On reporting, Pereira recommended contacting the sheriff—s office for a local report and the FBI—s Internet Crime Complaint Center at "ic3.gov" to document incidents that often cross jurisdictions. "We take a local report, which ends up going to the FBI," she said, and asked victims to provide where funds were sent, payment method and any communication evidence.
Council members asked about prosecution rates and hotlines; Pereira said apprehension is difficult when scammers operate from other countries and emphasized community prevention and early contact with police. A resident in public comment described receiving convincing spoofed calls and urged neighbors to exercise caution.
The presentation closed with the Sheriff's Office offering to return to community venues to present fraud-avoidance information and to assist residents who bring suspicious texts or calls to the department before acting.
