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Reports of online scams and fraud rose about 25% in Deschutes County this year costing some victims as much as $100,000.

Some law enforcement agencies are concerned that artificial intelligence may be making it easier for criminals to write emails and make calls to steal money.

It’s part of a nationwide problem with monetary losses recorded in billions of dollars.

“They’re getting so much more sophisticated that it gets harder and harder to know when something’s not real,” said Bend Police spokeswoman Sheila Miller.

In 2021 and 2022, people called Deschutes County 911 to report scams or fraud about 645 times per year on-average, according to data from the dispatch center. So far this year, they’ve called 812 times.

In Bend, there were 253 calls last year, compared to 314 this year, about a 24% increase, according to data from Bend Police.

Scammers have called people urging them to give money to hold their spot in line for rental properties, regional law enforcement officials said. They have also pretended to be police officers or border patrol agents, instructing residents that they missed a court date and now need to pay them or face additional fines or arrest.

Last spring, multiple Bend businesses reported that scammers pretending to be district managers called them and directed them to send money in the form of gift cards. Some businesses lost thousands of dollars.

In June, a Bend woman lost $25,000 when a scammer told her to transfer the money through a bitcoin ATM to stop a hacker from taking money from her bank account.

Nationally, the amount of money scammers steal online increased 50% in 2022, the most recent year with available data, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. In 2022, Americans reported more than $10.3 billion in losses, even though the total number of complaints about scams decreased by 5%.

Most scammers act from outside the region, making it difficult for authorities to hold them accountable. Because of this, most cases get referred to the state or federal authorities, but even then there are challenges in finding perpetrators.

“When it spiderwebs out over the net or they use an IP address or AI, it can be really hard to trace it out over the globe,” said Madras Police Chief Tim Plummer, who added: “If they clear their browser history or don’t pick up the phone number, then it’s hard to track down.”

If businesses can prove that fraud has occurred — by showing a police report and documented evidence of lost money — then they can get their money back from the Federal Trade Commission.

“There are methods to be made whole again, but that’s not always the case,” said Miller, Bend Police spokesperson.

Police warn that legitimate public agencies or businesses will never ask for money in the form of gift cards, cryptocurrency or wire transfers. Police say residents should be cautious of anybody trying to pressure them into monetary transfers and encourage residents to slow down and then call their local agencies or banks to see if the requests are real.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Miller.