Picture a burglar who never sets foot in Whitehall.
The miscreant doesn’t cruise our neighborhoods or test car doors under the cover of darkness, nor do they care about patrol routes or municipal boundaries.
Instead, the thief sits behind a keyboard — perhaps overseas — targeting our residents with spoofed phone numbers, fake investment platforms and convincing text messages.
In a matter of minutes, life savings can vanish from a bank account on Brownsville Road as easily as if someone had smashed a storefront window. That’s the reality my officers confront every day in Whitehall Borough.
As police chief, I’ve spent my career preparing officers to respond to emergencies, through training and building relationships in the community. But when it comes to sophisticated online fraud schemes run by international networks, the rules are entirely different. The crime scene is digital, suspects are often continents away and the money is gone long before a report is filed.
We’ve seen retirees tricked into sending tens of thousands of dollars to scammers posing as government agents. Similarly, we’ve seen families drained by fraudulent investment apps, romance schemes and sweepstake scams. Two of our most recent investigations involved residents being conned out of $110,000 and $800,000.
The financial damage is staggering and the emotional toll — embarrassment, anxiety, sleepless nights — can be even worse.
To their credit, my officers work relentlessly to help victims. In some cases, through quick coordination with banks and federal contacts, we’ve been able to freeze transfers and recover significant sums. Those successes matter.
A year ago this month, a Whitehall resident reported that a deceased relative’s online savings account was accessed, and $230,000 was transferred without permission.
Similarly, in December 2024, a local resident fell victim to a computer malware scam. The criminal pretended to be a McAfee associate, and was granted access to the person’s computer. While pretending to remove a computer virus, there was a withdrawal of $50,000 from a savings account.
Thankfully, we recovered stolen funds during both investigations as a result of complex search warrants, affidavits of probable cause and countless phone calls with the fraud victims, their financial institutions and assistance from federal and out-of-state law enforcement partners.
However, no charges were filed because the suspect actors and schemes were situated outside of the United States.
For every recovery like our success stories, there are cases where the trail leads overseas and simply goes cold. That’s not a reflection of effort. It’s a reflection of jurisdiction and resources.
Local law enforcement agencies like ours are structured to police streets, not fiber-optic cables. Although our capabilities are increasing, we still need to operate within municipal boundaries and state law. Cybercriminals do not. They exploit gaps between local, state, federal and international authorities.
They move money across borders in seconds, and use encrypted apps, cryptocurrency and shell accounts that require specialized expertise and federal authority to untangle.
Scammers do not stop at the state line, and neither can our enforcement strategy. You can protect yourself by not providing personal information over the phone or internet, never sending money or gift cards to claim prizes, and always remember that it is not possible to win a contest you never entered.
Right now, local departments across the country are fighting a global criminal enterprise with limited tools. We need a unified federal response that matches the scale and sophistication of the threat.
We need more utilization of the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, commonly referred to as IC3 complaints, so victims aren’t bounced between agencies.
We need stronger real-time data sharing between financial institutions and law enforcement, and dedicated federal task forces with the authority and resources to pursue perpetrators operating across multiple states, or multiple countries.
We also need sustained funding so local departments can train officers and assign personnel to cybercrime without sacrificing patrol coverage.
Most importantly, we need to recognize online fraud for what it is: a borderless, billion-dollar industry targeting everyday Americans.
Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to lead. In recent years, efforts by federal lawmakers to tackle this problem have been too small and would have created more problems than they solved. This year, that must change.
Our federal partners must prioritize this issue with the same urgency we apply to interstate drug trafficking or organized crime. It’s time for the U.S. Congress, especially our own delegation, including Sen. Dave McCormick, to step forward with a unified strategy worthy of the threat.
Without a coordinated national framework, local departments will continue playing defense against adversaries who are faster, better funded and often untouchable from a municipal level.
Pennsylvanians deserve better, because online fraud is not a niche issue. This isn’t just a Whitehall problem. It’s a national public safety challenge.
It’s time for a comprehensive federal strategy that gives local law enforcement the tools we need to fight a 21st-century crime wave with 21st-century solutions.
From my vantage point, I can assure you: We will continue doing everything in our power to protect our residents. But we cannot do it alone.
Without a coordinated federal framework, local authorities will continue playing defense with outdated and insufficient tools. A national, strategic response is not just desirable – it’s essential.
Jason Gagorik is the police chief for the borough of Whitehall and president of the Allegheny County Chiefs of Police Association. He has been in law enforcement for 24 years, including five years as Whitehall’s chief.
