Another Great Turnout For Our Scams and Fraud Presentation in Prescott

Published on September 18, 2025

This week, YCSO Fraud Investigator Ron Norfleet spoke to over 40 people at Granite Dells Estates in Prescott, once again putting out warnings of how to protect yourself from being a scammer's next victim.

As Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) use increases, scammers are ramping up their efforts to use it to fool unsuspecting folks into giving up their money to various fraudsters. Part of Norfleet's YCSO presentation is a video which appears to be many real people who are either scammers giving their pitch or folks who have been scammed out of money.......but every one of them (and everything else in the video) is fake! It was all A.I. generated to show residents how easy it is for cyber-criminals to con folks into believing almost anything because it looks real.

There are so many ways scammers can ply their trade, some new and some are repeats. We currently are seeing another round of text messages that claim to come from the "Dept of Motor Vehicles (DMV)", warning the potential victim that they have not paid a traffic ticket, and must do it right away (with extra fees) to avoid horrible consequences. By the way, in Arizona, it's the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD), and they will not text you about an overdue traffic fine. And you will be charged a whole lot more than a small fine if you click on the link and give them your financial information!

YCSO strongly encourages all residents to follow the 5 "Do Nots" to avoid scams:

1. DO NOT ANSWER any unsolicited contact by phone call, text, email, or social media friend requests (and do not believe your caller ID because it can be spoofed...let it go to voicemail)

2. DO NOT CLICK on any computer popups ("you have a virus", for example), or links/attachments in unsolicited texts or emails

3. DO NOT CALL any number provided to you in unsolicited contacts (always verify the real phone number for banks, law enforcement, government agencies, retailers, etc. yourself by looking it up)

4. DO NOT SEND MONEY to anyone you do not know personally and have never met (including potential "sweethearts" you met online), especially by gift cards, Bitcoin, cash apps, or wire transfers....no matter who they claim to be!

5. DO NOT LET FEAR TAKE OVER - you are not going to be arrested and jailed for an old fine, your bank account is not under FBI investigation for money laundering, your loved one is not in a remote jail needing bail money, and they have not been kidnapped by the cartel!

In August, YCSO saw a 90% reduction in money lost to scams compared to the monthly average from January-July. We hope that is due in part to the information we put out on social media and in our public in-person presentations, educating folks about how these scammers operate.

If your civic or community group, church, HOA, senior living facility or other group would like to schedule our free presentation, please call Ron Norfleet at (928) 771-3299 or Steve Brazell at (928) 554-8704.