Maricopa County Attorney shares monthly public-safety update

As holiday shopping ramps up, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is warning residents about a surge in scams and organized retail crime expected in the coming weeks.

Her office is tracking an uptick in large-scale theft rings targeting stores across the Valley, along with a wave of seasonal scams, from fake package-delivery alerts to fraudulent charity solicitation, aimed at unsuspecting holiday shoppers.

Mitchell says organized retail crime has grown increasingly sophisticated, with coordinated groups stealing large amounts of merchandise and reselling it online.

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell joined Arizona Horizon for her monthly update on major legal and public-safety issues affecting Valley residents. She also outlined the most common red flags, explained how her office is working with retailers and law enforcement, and shared tips to help shoppers protect themselves during the busiest buying season of the year.

Her office is tracking an uptick in schemes that range from gift-card tampering to high-tech phishing and payment fraud, all aimed at people rushing through their holiday to-do lists.

“A.I. is making things much more realistic looking to people,” Mitchell said. “So it’s much easier to scam them. We are seeing an increase, we’re probably going to see more increase during the holiday season.”

One of the biggest trouble spots: gift cards. Mitchell urged shoppers to slow down and inspect cards hanging on store racks.

“If they’re picking them out off of a display, they need to make sure there are no signs of tampering,” she said. She added that it’s “best if it’s a store that will give you a secondary P.I.N. number at [the] register when you check out. Otherwise, somebody could have recorded that number and the money you put on it will be gone before you give the gift.”

She noted that one grocery chain is already “paying a million dollars a month” reimbursing customers who’ve been scammed.

Mitchell also flagged a cluster of payment-related scams that show up as urgent texts, emails or calls demanding immediate action.

“Anything that involves cryptocurrency, anything that involves paying with gift cards, things that involve paying through an app… or a bank transfer, those are the fastest ways we’re seeing people lose money,” she said.

Her advice: trust your instincts and take a beat before responding. “Go with the gut instinct. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. If you have questions, talk to a friend… but no legitimate company is going to call and say give me your bank card number, your credit card number. Don’t do it.”

Requests for personal data are another major red flag. When a supposed company or charity starts asking for birth dates, Social Security numbers or driver’s license details,

Mitchell said, that should “be raising all red flags.”

Her message to Valley residents this season is simple: be skeptical, slow down at the checkout, whether online or in person, and remember that real businesses and agencies will never pressure you into handing over money or sensitive information on the spot.