Arizona Attorney General special agent talks scams in Paradise Valley

By Allison Kotzbauer
Mail

The Paradise Valley Police Department partnered with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to raise awareness of scams targeting Arizona residents.

On Wednesday, Sept. 2, Supervising Special Agent Annalisa Madsen of the Attorney General’s Office spoke with residents about what to look out for, what to do if residents are targeted by these scams, and how her department can help if Arizonans fall victim to a scam at PVPD’s Coffee with a Cop event.

PVPD Chief Freeman Carney spoke to the packed auditorium about why the police department continues to share the signs and dangers of falling for a scam.

“We do this about two or three times a year, and there’s a reason for that,” Carney said. “It’s one of the biggest crimes we have. It’s the biggest crime any city has.”

Madsen said phone and text scams are increasingly preying on people’s emotions and vulnerabilities, often attempting to isolate victims from friends and family.

Scammers may tell victims not to hang up or tell anyone what is happening while posing as government agencies, debt collectors or family members in trouble. They then demand payment through cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, gift cards or wire transfers.

Madsen recommends avoiding fraud by not clicking links sent by text, hanging up when a call seems suspicious and contacting the person or agency directly using a verified number.

“Just hang up,” she said. “You don’t have to be nice.”

She also recommends establishing a family code word for emergencies, never paying with gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency, and avoiding sharing personal information.

Other warning signs include unexpected job offers or contest winnings, as well as online romantic partners who ask for money.

“If you didn’t enter, you probably didn’t win,” she said.

Government impersonation complaints to the FBI increased nearly 88% from 2024 to 2025, resulting in about $800 million in reported losses last year, according to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center report.

According to the latest FBI data, the average loss in a cryptocurrency scam is about $62,000, Madsen said.

“That could be someone’s full savings,” she said. “That could ruin people.”

If money is transferred and then quickly reported Madsen said her agents can get it back.

Legislation went into effect Sept. 26, 2025, to protect victims of cryptocurrency ATM scams. If fraud is reported to the Attorney General’s office with a police report, the victim has made the store aware of the scam, and reported the fraud to the Crypto ATM company within 30 days of the fraud, a victim is legally entitled to being repaid.

“Time is everything with these kinds of crimes,” Madsen said. “It has to be super quick.”

The legislation also reduced daily transaction limits to $2,000 per day for new customers and $10,500 for existing customers of Crypto ATM machines as well as added new signage warning users about crypto scams.

Although the new legislation will not stop people from using cryptocurrency to scam others, Madsen said it will make such scams more difficult. The goal, she said, is to make the effort outweigh the potential reward while protecting victims from losing everything if they do fall for a scam.

“It’s surely going to slow it down,” Madsen said.

Another problem her agency faces in stopping bad actors is that they are operating from all over the world and outside her jurisdiction and handed over to the FBI to investigate.

“I used to have a lot of issues and do a lot of search warrants on call centers that were here locally. Now … it’s in Africa, China, Russia, all that stuff,” she said. “It’s blown outside the United States.”

Another issue is that first-time offenders often receive probation rather than jail time. Madsen said she feels those consequences do not adequately reflect the severity of the crimes.

“I hate it when they get probation, especially for a large crime where they’ve ruined people’s families and taken all their money, and now the person has to sell their house and they don’t have anywhere to go,” she said. “To me, that’s egregious.”

On the other hand, Madsen said she has seen judges reject plea agreements and impose sentences longer than what was originally negotiated.

“It kind of is all over the board,” she said.

Advisory Committee on Public Safety member Charlie Herf asked whether legislation could be changed to increase sentences for these types of crimes.

“Make the risk greater than the reward,” he said.

Madsen said increasing sentences would be a worthwhile issue to raise with legislators.

The PVPD hosts a Coffee with a Cop event on the first Wednesday of each month where they invite community organizations to better inform the public of important topics, give residents the chance to speak with and get to know the police officers serving them, and enjoy complimentary coffee and breakfast.

Allison Kotzbauer can be reached at akotzbauer@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines

Allison Kotzbauer
Reporter | Paradise Valley

akotzbauer@iniusa.org

Community: I live in central Phoenix and my writing  focuses on Fountain Hills education, and the Paradise Valley and Scottsdale communities. 

Education: I graduated from Arizona State University in May 2026 with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. My studies focused on writing and visual story-telling.  

Random Fact: Growing up I had over 10 pets including 6 cats, 1 dog, 2 hermits crabs, and too many fish to count! 

Hobbies: I like to spend my free time hiking, crafting, cooking, reading, and spending time with friends and family.