Bo Alexander, a Criminal Investigator with the United States Secret Service, spoke at Wednesday’s Rotary Club meeting about his history as a member of the President’s Secret Service and touched on the importance of internet safety and trends he sees in scams in Owensboro.
In 2015, Alexander joined as a Uniformed Division Officer for the president, served in many capacities.
He patrolled and worked on the White House grounds during the beginning of President Donald Trump’s administration before joining the Motorcade Support Unit, where he happily got to ride on a Harley Davidson every day for work.
After some time, the former Uniformed Division Officer returned to Kentucky in 2018. Nonetheless, he has had a few chances to serve the President — such as at the 20th anniversary of 9/11 at the memorial in New York, and providing protection for the President of Botswana last September.
“Most of the world knows the Secret Service only because of the protective element of our mission, but we do have this secondary component, or this dual component, of investigations,” Alexander said.
In Louisville, Alexander is a part of the Fraud Cyber Task Force, which investigates financial crimes like fraud and scamming.
One type of fraud that he has investigated multiple times in Owensboro was “Romance Scam.” In this situation, which is often started on social media and dating sites, the scammers cultivate an online relationship with the victim.
Over time, they promise the victim large amounts of money and in some cases a physical meetup or marriage.
“Scam artists often say that they’re in the building or construction industry, and they’re engaged in projects outside of the United States,” Alexander said. “This makes it easier to avoid meeting their ‘loved one’ in person or their ‘soulmate’ in person.”
Alexander has also seen that scammers will use this method to launder money and in turn liquidate the victim’s savings in the process.
When it comes to the people affected by the scammers, Alexander said it’s typically people who are elderly or otherwise vulnerable, like divorcees.
Another scam he sees in Owensboro often is the Tech Support Scam where criminals will pose as tech support representatives fixing a problem on a computer or device. The victim is then asked to download a remote access software, which will lead to scammers finding private information on a device.
“The best thing to remember is the old adage, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Alexander said.
