09/04/2026
Recent Bunnell investigations show how quickly a convincing message, official title, or trusted relationship leads to financial loss.
In recent weeks, victims reported roughly $56,000 in identified losses, plus additional business losses involving counterfeit checks.
Recent schemes reported in our city include:
• A resident responded to a message presented as a TikTok identity-verification request. The victim provided personal and credit-card information and lost $106.
• A caller posed as a law-enforcement officer and pressured a resident into purchasing $500 in gift cards. The victim then provided the gift-card codes.
• A victim wired $5,980 to someone believed to represent Flagler County government. Flagler County never requested nor received the money.
• A local business discovered several counterfeit checks against its account. During the investigation, a person linked to one deposit admitted sharing banking information with someone met through TikTok.
• A person holding power of attorney allegedly diverted nearly $50,000 from an older adult’s pension and Social Security income for personal use.
Each scheme used trust, urgency, authority, or financial access to push someone into acting before verifying the request.
DO:
✅ Stop when someone creates fear, urgency, or secrecy.
✅ End the call or close the message. Contact the person, bank, business, police department, or government agency through an independently verified number.
✅ Confirm invoices, wire instructions, payroll changes, and payment requests through a second communication method.
✅ Open the official app or website yourself instead of following an unexpected verification link.
✅ Contact your bank, card issuer, or gift-card company immediately after sending money or disclosing account information. Ask about freezing the account, recalling the transfer, or disputing the charge.
✅ Preserve messages, telephone numbers, emails, receipts, gift cards, screenshots, and bank records.
✅ Review financial accounts belonging to older or vulnerable relatives. Set transaction alerts and arrange independent oversight when appropriate.
DON’T:
❌ Don’t pay a police department, court, or government agency with gift cards or cryptocurrency.
❌ Don’t send an unexpected wire transfer before confirming the recipient through an official source.
❌ Don’t provide account numbers, card information, passwords, PINs, verification codes, or gift-card codes.
❌ Don’t trust caller ID, logos, email display names, badges, uniforms, or official-sounding titles as proof of identity.
❌ Don’t remain on the telephone with anyone who threatens arrest, orders secrecy, or prevents you from contacting family, your bank, or police.
❌ Don’t assume power of attorney eliminates the need for financial oversight.
Help us help you. If everyone follows these tips, then the bad guys can no longer profit from these crimes. If someone targets you, stop all contact and call the Bunnell Police Department at 386-313-4911. Call 911 when a threat is immediate or a suspect is present.
Pause. Verify. Protect What’s Yours.
