Joel Patterson was on the phone with a government worker for about an hour on Christmas Eve before he realized he was speaking to an imposter.
“They pretended to be from customs enforcement, saying they had intercepted an illegal package that was coming to my house,” Patterson said. “They said they were going to … take me into custody. They knew where my house was. … I fell for it.”
Patterson, an assistant state’s attorney who leads the office’s Public Integrity, Special Prosecutions and Digital Evidence units, is perhaps the top person in Prince George’s County for information on spam calls, phishing emails and other digital schemes. But even he is not immune to scams.
“I was going for it right up until they asked for my bank account information,” Patterson said, laughing. “These people are so good at what they do. … This happens to everybody.”
Representatives of the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office met with citizens at the Laurel-Beltsville Senior Activity Center Oct. 29 to discuss financial fraud and scams, two increasingly common crimes that have siphoned millions from individuals throughout the country, including Marylanders.
According to 2024 data provided by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),there were 6.5 million reports of fraud in the United States, the highest number of any year since the commission started recording data in 2020. Maryland was one of the states hit hardest, having the fifth highest rate of reported fraud in the country, according to the FTC. Marylanders lost at least $199 million to fraud and scams in 2024, with the most popular scams being credit-bureau impersonation.
The FTC also found that young people reported losing money to fraud more than seniors did, but the losses of seniors were often far greater. The median loss for someone in their 20s was $417 while victims in their 70s had a median loss of $1,000.
“For folks who’ve worked an entire lifetime, they have a lot more to lose,” Patterson said.
During the presentation, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson, who was appointed in June to assume the role as Aisha Braveboy became county executive, said financial fraud was a priority she needed to address, in part because she saw her parents struggle with the issue.
“They’re having a lot of challenges with people trying to take their money,” Jackson said. “It burns me up. … If they’re asking for your money, just stop.”
Assistant State’s Attorney Ed Layton offered a simple solution to help people ward off scammers: Be rude.”
Jackson urged those in attendance to never share personal or banking information over the phone unless they’ve placed the call themselves. Jackson said that individuals should contact local police or her office to report a scam.
“I don’t want people to feel ashamed if they’ve fallen victim to a scam,” Jackson said. “Let us know about it, so your neighbor doesn’t fall victim.”