Scams and scammers evolve with technology
BUFFALO — Scams are everywhere and are only getting more complicated with the increased presence of artificial intelligence, according to Buffalo Police Chief Sean Bissett.
“(Scams have) been around for a long time, as long as I can remember, but it’s just getting worse and worse,” Bissett said. “And with technology, it’s great — until they use it against us.”
One of the most jarring examples of AI use is when scammers use it to impersonate people on the phone, so when someone picks up a call from a scammer, it may sound like a relative on the other end of the line.
In one local incident, Bissett said, a person was about to withdraw money from his bank account after a phone call with what sounded like his grandson. His grandson’s voice was spoofed, with the imposter saying he was in trouble and needed money urgently. After that call ended, the real grandson just happened to call his grandparent on a random check-in, which narrowly got in the way of the transaction.
Scams like that one over the phone, however, are just one of many types of scams that continue to target people.
According to the FBI’s most recent Internet Crime Report covering data from 2024, about $16.6 billion in reported losses from scams were logged in the U.S. that year.
Though Wyoming ranked low in the total number of scams and amount of losses compared with most other states, Wyoming had the 10th most reported scams per capita at about 234 complaints for every 100,000 citizens. Wyoming also ranked third for losses per capita, with about $7.4 million in losses per 100,000 citizens.
The challenge is that scams are ever-evolving, so those investigating them have to work continuously to keep up. Bissett said that law enforcement officials undergo frequent training to stay up to date and share information on what they are seeing.
“It’s just this cat-and-mouse game of trying to stay on top of the technology and how they’re doing it,” he said.
While phone scams are among the most reported in Buffalo, the department’s public safety administrator, Erika McCarter, said that online scams remain the most effective.
And while it is true that the elderly remain among the most vulnerable to scams, scams can affect men and women of all ages and demographics. The most common and successful types of scams vary by age bracket.
Young people ages 12 to 20 tend to fall victim to extortion or sextortion scams, McCarter said. Those types of scams often start with a scammer building a relationship with a young person online, like in an online video game chat room. The scammer will then attempt to take the conversation off the original platform and move it to a social media platform or get the victim’s cell phone number. From there, the scammer will attempt to convince the victim to send illicit images of him or herself. If the victim complies, the scammer will then say that the young person must pay some amount of money or the scammer will send the image to the young person’s friends or family.
Bissett said that these types of scams target both girls and boys of all backgrounds and start at surprisingly young ages.
“We’ve actually started talking to kids as young as seventh and eighth grade at the middle school with our child protection team. We’ve made it a point to once a year go over there, because … that’s where it’s starting,” Bissett said.
BPD stressed that once those images are sent, they never go away.
Also, the potential effect of these scams on the victim’s mental health is concerning, Bissett said. These types of scams can leave the victim feeling shame and anxiety, and potentially lead to thoughts of suicide, he said.
Among the elderly, friendship scams are among the most common. These involve a person meeting the scammer online, developing a friendship or romantic relationship and being convinced to send money to the scammer. McCarter said these types of scams can be challenging because they take advantage of the natural human urge to connect with other people and help them.
“I can see why this person fell victim to a friendship scam,” McCarter said. “They were friends for six months online. They were sharing all these stories, and all of a sudden (the scammer is) telling this person, ‘I’m locked out of my bank account. I really need to pay my rent. Can you please send me $1,200?’”
That one payment happens, and if the scammer and the victim keep communicating, more requests for money come in.
“And all of a sudden, you’re out $15,000, and you’re, like, What is going on? You try to call a person. Goes to a weird voicemail. All of a sudden, they ghost you. They’ve gotten what they needed from you. You won’t hear from them again,” McCarter said.
McCarter said another type of successful phone or email scam is fear-based scams that illicit a sense of urgency in the victim. They include scenarios such as the individual’s child being held at the Mexican border for illegal activity and needing money to be bailed out.
“Sometimes the individuals go to the bank, and they even think, ‘Well, it might be a scam, but I’m so terrified that it’s real that I’m going to do it anyway, because I can’t bear the thought that it could be real,’” McCarter said.
Bissett said that Buffalo police speak with tellers at local banks about querying customers who come in requesting to withdraw large sums of money for suspicious reasons.
“With tellers, I’ve said, ‘Look, if you have a customer who comes in and they’re wanting to remove $10,000 in cash from their checking account or savings account because they got a phone call saying that so and so was in Mexico or had a warrant and you needed to pay it off, … don’t hesitate to ask questions,’” Bissett said. “And they do. They do a really good job with it. Like, ‘Are you sure? Maybe you should go to the police department first?’ kind of thing.”
Still, tellers can’t prevent people from withdrawing money from their accounts, he said.
Other types of common scams originate from pop-ups on a computer, with statements such as, “Your computer has a virus. Click this link to fix it.”
If a person clicks the link, the scammer can gain access to the person’s computer, find his password information and access all of his accounts. With the holiday season approaching, McCarter said, charitable scams begin popping up.
“For the holiday season, as people start to reach out by phone call or by emails or text, just do your due diligence to vet that charitable group so you know where your money is going,” she said.
McCarter said that scams are more common than people realize, and they affect everyone. For example, major corporations like the retail chain Target or the national bank Wells Fargo have even fallen prey to scams.
“All these major corporations that spend millions of dollars a year on protecting their insider information, it can happen to anyone,” McCarter said. “And the one thing that we try to explain to the public too is you might feel shame after falling victim, when you have sent the money and you realize … what’s happening. And a lot of people hold off (reporting it) for, like, a day or so, because they’re trying to gain the courage to come in and say that. You don’t need to feel shame. It happens to so many individuals.”
People who suspect they have been scammed should file a report through the police department, and they will often be told to file a report through the IRS as well. The IRS has more resources to investigate scams, particularly large scamming groups operating overseas.
Bissett said there’s no harm in double- checking strange calls or emails by going directly to the institution, calling it or going in person to double check. Also, if something sounds fishy, people can always contact the police department.
“If it’s too good to be true, it is,” Bissett said. “That’s still a great adage to live by.”
McCarter said that technology is “morally neutral.” It can be great in the hands of the police department, for example.
“Look at our 911 center. My goodness, if we didn’t have the technology increases that we’ve had over the last year or decades, we wouldn’t be able to reach and serve as much of the community that we have right now. It’s incredible,” she said.
On the other hand, people with ill intent will use technology to take advantage of others.
That shouldn’t prevent good people from using it, however.
“It’s just education, knowing how to protect yourself, knowing the right questions to ask, and being a little bit skeptical,” McCarter said. “We’re not saying be scared of Google. I’m not saying be scared of every bank statement you open. No. But, just know what to look for.”
This story was published on Nov. 13, 2025.