10
Wednesday, December 25, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
FBI: Cybercrimes on the rise
due to sophisticated scams
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
PHOTO PROVIDED
Stephen Calhoun.
SUSPECT: Man faces
multiple charges
for burglary
Continued from page 3
Patrol deputies, along with
members of the Deschutes
County Sheriff 9s Office
SWAT Team, utilized an
armored vehicle and DCSO
patrol K9 Ezel to enter the
home and determine no
one was inside. According
to DCSO, an investigation
revealed Calhoun had bro-
ken a window to the occu-
pied home trying to gain
entry. Calhoun left the first
residence after breaking the
window and later unlawfully
entered a nearby neighbor-
ing residence just before
being detained by the deputy.
Calhoun was booked into
the Deschutes County Jail
on multiple charges, includ-
ing first-degree burglary,
attempted burglary and pos-
session of methamphetamine.
PORTLAND (AP) 4 On
December 14, 2018, Aaron
Cole was about to buy a new
house and received an email
that he thought was from his
title company, directing him
to make a $123,000 deposit.
Cole complied, not realiz-
ing that a sophisticated hacker
network had likely been spy-
ing on his communications
with the title company and
that although the email looked
like others he had received
from the title company, this
time, the email address was
slightly different.
A week later, the title com-
pany called, advising him it
was time to send money. The
Oregon man suddenly real-
ized he had given away his
family9s life savings to crimi-
nals. The money was from the
sale of their former house.
<It was the worst feeling,=
Cole said Friday. <And then
having to go home and tell
my wife that I just gave away
all the money. She could tell
right when I walked in the
house and just sat down, and
I just couldn9t come up with
the words to tell her.=
In 2015, $220 million
was lost to wire fraud in the
United States. In 2019, losses
will surpass $1.5 billion,
according to WFG National
Title Insurance Company.
In the past, attempts
to trick people were often
clumsy, FBI agents told jour-
nalists on Friday. Now they
can be sophisticated. If people
are asked via email to transfer
money under a deadline, they
should not rush and instead
call a known number of the
person the email is purport-
edly from and confirm the
request, the agents said.
<The emails have got-
ten well-crafted and quite
detailed. They9re highly tai-
lored to that particular vic-
tim,= said Gabriel Gundersen,
an FBI supervisory special
agent with the Oregon Cyber
Task Force.
In one of the largest cases
of its kind in U.S. history, fed-
eral authorities in Los Angeles
announced an indictment in
August charging 80 people,
most of them Nigerians, with
stealing $6 million in an email
scam and money-laundering
network.
CHRISTMAS: Sisters
charity has an
international reach
Continued from page 3
And if you9ve had trouble
finding postcards in Sisters
lately it might be because
three local women offered
to send postcards with per-
sonal messages to children in
another five orphanages. The
260 postcards depict scenes
from Central Oregon, includ-
ing downtown Sisters and the
Three Sisters. One orphanage
administrator wrote that the
postcards the girls received
were so special to them that
they kept the cards under
their pillows at night.
Sisters is already a favor-
ite place for people around
the U.S. And now it is the
favorite of a lot of children in
India.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Still in their nativity play dresses, girls line up for their Christmas present.
Year-round
FIREWOOD
SALES
— Kindling —
—
—
SISTERS
FOREST PRODUCTS
541-410-4509
SistersForestProducts.com
THANK
YOU!
To o ever
ev
e everyone
very
eryone
ery
yone
one who donated
this holiday
holida y season.
CUSTOM FENCES
ENCES AND DECKS
Locally Owned,
Craftsman Built
Residential & Commercial
Custom Ranch &
Domestic Privacy Fencing
Decks • Gates
Stain & Paint • Repair
F FREE
FR
R EE
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E ST
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I M AT
A TE
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COMPETITIVE
C MP
CO
MPET
ETITT IV
IVE
E PR
PRICING
RICIN
I G
541-588-2062
CCB#215066
www.SistersFenceCompany.com
The holiday pet food drive was a great success.
With your help we fed 393 animals this past Saturday.
199 Dogs, 8 Puppies, 146 Cats, 12 Kittens, 7 Rabbits, 2 Ferrets,
3 Cockatiels, 2 Parrots, 5 Parakeets, 1 Dove, 2 Finches,
2 Tropical Fish, 1 Turtle, 1 Lizard, 1 Gecko and a Hedgehog!
Special thanks to Independent Pet
P t Supply
Pe
Suppl and American Nutrition,
Nutri tion, N
Nylabone,
ylabone,
labone,
Sisters Feed & Supply,
Suppl y, , Sisters Kiwanis, Sisters-Camp Sherman RFPD,
Supply
Clov verdale
Clo
Cloverdale
erdale RFPD, Black Butte R Ranch
anch P Police,
olice, The
he Nugget
Nugge t and the many
man
volunteers
olunteers including Jeannie,
eannie, Gregg, Heather
Heather, , Paul,
P aul, Marcy,
Marc
Marcy y, , Monica,
Valerie,
alerie, Sam, Carol
Carolyn,
Caroly yn,
n, Kari, Leith,
Lei th, Brenda, Kathryn
Kathr
Kathry n and Sally.
Sall
Sally
FURRY FRIEND S
FOUNDATION
501(c)3 offering FREE
spay/neuter/vaccinations
services and pet food bank
to Sisters area families.
204 W. Adams, Ste. 109 " PO Box 1175, Sisters OR 97759
541-797-4023 " www.furryfriendsfoundation.org
This ad sponsored by The Nugget Newspaper