Scamming the Valley

The days of the Nigerian prince needing help getting his money out of the country or the long-lost wealthy uncle leaving a sizable inheritance are long gone. As technology has advanced, so have the ways in which scammers and con-artists have tried to take advantage of people.

On May 12, Saratoga resident Janice Kerpan fell victim to one of the more recent scams and not only lost $600 but became the victim of identity theft. All of it started with a seemingly misaddressed email about an Amazon order.

According to Kerpan, she was checking her email account through Union Telephone which is used p...