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SALT LAKE CITY — If the texts Jennifer Tarazon received are to be believed, Utah's governor has a Massachusetts burner phone that he uses to solicit folks to buy gift cards for his staff members as a surprise for which those he contacts will be reimbursed.
The texts, of course, did not actually come from Gov. Spencer Cox, and the recipient isn't your typical victim. Tarazon is the communications director at the Utah AARP, where one of its major missions is educating people about these very sorts of scams.
"We talk about scams to older adults all of the time," Tarazon said.
As Get Gephardt has reported before, consumer advocates, including the AARP, warn against responding to these types of messages at all. Engaging with the scammer is how victims get reeled in, and the simple act of responding confirms that the scammers have reached a legitimate phone number.
But when you are a communications director looking to help others, responding can help tell the story of how these scams work. For example, at one point the con artist promised Tarazon she would be reimbursed through a money transfer app, which the FTC has long warned is a convenient tool that's frequently used by scammers to steal your money.
Tarazon, of course, did not fall for any of it. The scammer eventually gave up and moved on, but Tarazon did not.
"I said, I am going to reach out to KSL and talk to them," she said.
Tarazon is certainly not the only person in Utah who has gotten these bogus messages. Best advice if you do get it is to delete it. You can also report it to the FBI's Internet Crimes Division.
