06 June Scams

June 2023 Scams 

06.29 Very elaborate scam involving blackmail, extortion, and ICE. The victim reported he was in trouble and needed help. He stated an ICE agent was after him and he was being extorted. In May of 2022 he met a female, "Harley Abbott", on the application "Chat." After texting for a week or so, he sent her approximately $4,000 worth of Apple gift cards at her request. He did not send them to an actual address; he sent her pictures of the serial numbers. This money was for travel expenses so she could visit him. Around the same time, he exchanged nude photographs with Abbott. When she never arrived she continued to make excuses and ask for more money, he realized she was not coming and blocked her. Approximately two weeks ago she sent him an email indicating she has changed for the better so they started communicating again. Once the messaging started back up, he started receiving messages from "James Brunce." This person claimed to be an ICE agent and advised him that he was going to be arrested for coercing Abbott into sending nude photographs. Brunce started requesting payment by way of Apple Pay and Paypal; the victim obliged and sent approximately $3,000 in a little over one week. When he indicated he didn't have any more money, he started receiving messages from "Wade Cox" who also claimed to be an ICE agent. Messages also came from "Samyra Starr Jamauri" who claimed to be Abbott's neighbor. This person was advising to him to cooperative and avoid prison. He believed the agents to be real and showed me a photograph sent by Brunce. The picture was supposedly Brunce's badge and ID card. Using google, I found the exact same picture online with other similar pictures. While speaking with the victim, he received a message from Brunce stating, "You there." He was uncomfortable replying so I replied for him. I sent a message advising who I was and that the victim was now aware of this scam. I stated they would not be receiving any further payments from the victim and to stop communicating with him. Moments after sending that message, Brunce left the chat without responding. The victim was advised to block everyone related to this incident and stop using this application. I advised him to contact me if any further threats occur and to stop wiring money to internet contacts he cannot verify. Total monetary loss is approximately $7,000.

06.28 The victim tried to purchase a golf cart on Facebook marketplace for $160 from Nancey Loice. She used Venmo to give Nancey $160. The username was Leroy-Kroll-1. After the transaction she was told to pick up the golf cart in Rosemount. When she went to the location, she was told by the resident there was no golf cart for sale and several other people have stop by the residence to purchase a golf cart.

06.22 Blackmail: The victim said that the unknown person has obtained nude videos of her that she had made and sent to her at-that-time husband. She reports she does not believe her husband sent these videos to anyone nor is behind the blackmail. She does not know how the videos were obtained by this person only assuming her phone was hacked. She said the unknown person has been threatening her that he will disseminate the videos to all her friends and family that's on Facebook if she does not send him money. She has been sending about $700 a month to this person since last August. She believes she has sent about $4000 over time to this person. She also was requested to buy a phone and mail it to Tampa, FL. She has no idea who is doing this nor how they got the videos.

06.20 I spoke with the victim who reported that he had been contacted by a male who identified himself as Jerry Goodman at the phone number 901-401-1913. He stated that "Goodman" identified himself as a member of an unspecified government agency and requested that he move funds from his Huntington bank account. At "Goodman's" request, he purchased two Target gift cards, two Walmart gift cards, and two Google gift cards with a total value of $2000 using his Huntington debit card. He then provided the card information to "Goodman". He stated that it was only after providing the gift card information that he realized that the exchange was not legitimate.

06.20 The victim stated he sent sexually explicit photos to a snapchat account (scarletryannn). He advised as soon as he sent the photos, he was texted demanding he pay $500 or else they would send the photos to his friends and family. He advised he sent the money with apple pay to the number. Records check indicated that the number was not on file, and most likely a generated number. Deputy recommended he block the account and number, and cease contact.

06.15 The victim reported that she was attempting to cancel her Apple TV when she was defrauded. She stated that she looked up what she thought was Apple support on the internet and called the number that was listed. When she did this, the phone was answered and the person on the other end stated that Apple was having trouble with their support and they needed to be paid with Target gift cards because they worked closely with Target. She bought $998.00 in gift cards giving the PIN numbers out over the phone. When they asked for more, she stated that she knew it was a scam so she didn't give them any more money. When she called Target, the money had already been used. She then began getting messages from China and also got a Paypal notification that someone had made a $500 purchase on her account which was tied to her debit card through her local bank. I told her that she needed to contact her bank immediately in the morning and cancel her debit card.

06.13 The victim advised me that recently he had been online attempting to obtain a loan. He stated that he was contacted by a group called Advance America located in California by phone and spoke with a representative named Leo Lee. He stated that in order to obtain a loan, he was first asked to purchase multiple prepaid MasterCards and provide all card information to Lee. He stated that the total value of the cards that he had purchased was approximately $2500. He reported that in addition to the money he had lost by purchasing the cards, money was also removed from his personal savings and checking accounts. He stated that money was taken from both of these accounts and that the total amount lost was approximately $4500. He reported that he had contacted the bank and had not yet received any details on where the funds in his account were transferred.

06.10 I made contact with the victim who stated he met a 23-year-old female named Michelle on the dating site Love Cougar. He was not aware Michelle recorded them while having virtual sex. Michelle then told him she was only 16 years old and if he did not pay her $500 she was going to call the police. He paid Michelle the $500 and Michelle still demanded more money, or she was going to release the video to friends and family on Facebook. He claimed the video was released on an unpublished YouTube channel. I advised him to get rid of all his social media accounts that Michelle knows about. I also advised him not to contact her and give her any more money. He said Michelle deleted her account on Love Cougar and started a new account with the name Michelle2112 on Discord.

06.09 The victim stated that he had received a phone call from a male claiming to be his grandson who was just in an accident and needed money. He realized immediately this was a scam so he hung up on the male. He stated that the call showed it was being placed from Canada.

06.09 The victim explained that she received a phone call from someone claiming to be Xfinity with the phone number 844-213-2128. She informed me she let it go to voicemail. The voicemail told her that Xfinity was offering a 50% discount for the next 3 years. She called back around 1830 hours. She made contact with someone who claimed to be with the company and read her her last billing amount from her Xfinity bill and told her that she was able to cut that in half for the next 3 years. He told her that they were in a partnership with Target and if she paid the total amount for the first year with a target gift card, she could get a reduced bill for the next 3 years. At this point, she believed this to be a scam and said she yelled at the caller then hung up and called us. She did not lose any money.

06.08 The victim reported being scammed and his 401K account was emptied. He said on May 25, 2023, he clicked on a popup window by mistake and his computer got hacked. He said a number came up that said it was VanGard and his 401K account was compromised. He called it and was working with a person he thought was VanGard customer service to secure his account. The lady collected all his information including SSN. A few days he learned, his 401K had $118,000 withdrawn from it. He is in contact with the real VanGuard and trying to get his money back. He has no suspect information and was told to make a police report.

06.08 The call started off as a missing person but the male was located at home safe. He explained a series of events that led to him withdraw $15,000 in cash from his savings account then spend an additional $5,000 in debit card transactions to purchase gift cards from Home Depot and Lowes. He advised me that his computer locked up the previous night and a screen popped up that looked official saying that his network had been hacked and that he needed to call "Microsoft Security." He stated they advised him they would help him by calling him today between 0900 and 1000 with further instructions. When they called, they made him believe his bank accounts were at risk, along with his networks, and that he needed to withdraw money so they could direct it to another account. He then went to his bank and withdrew $15,000. He was then directed to an ATM located in Saint Paul. He was given instructions to deposit the money into the ATM that had the ability to purchase Bitcoin and then the money would be returned to a secure account the next day. When the transaction did not work, he was directed to another ATM in White Bear Lake but he stated they then came up with an alternate solution. He was then directed to purchase Home Depot and Lowes gift cards using the $15,000 in cash and an additional $5,000 from his debit card. From Home Depot, he went to two different stores and purchased five gift cards totaling $7,000 in value. From Lowes, he went to two different stores and purchased seven gift cards totaling $13,000 in value. He then scratched off the numbers on the back of the cards and gave the information to the person on the phone. The person, only identified as "Clary" gave an ID number of CSTX753, stated the money would then be deposited tomorrow into a secure bank account set up by the bank "representative." He scratched off the protective layer of the card numbers and provided it to the person. It was verified by family members that the gift cards had a zero balance while I was at the residence talking with them.

06.08 I spoke with the victim who stated that she tried to buy Taylor Swift tickets on Facebook Market Place today and ended up getting scammed. She said that she sent $1,400 on Zelle to a person that had hacked another person Facebook account, and was never sent the tickets. She said that she believed it was legit because it was on the City of Dayton’s Facebook Market place.

06.07 The victim reported receiving a phone call from a Mickey J Wagner, who was claiming to be an attorney who was trying to help her grandson. Wagner claimed he had been arrested and needed
$16,000 to get released. The victim said that she had withdrawn the money, but did not make arrangements to deliver the money to Wagner. She was also able to make contact with her grandson and confirmed that he wasn't even in the state, at which point she realized it was a scam. I contacted the phone number she got the call from, identified myself when a male answered the phone, and he hung up immediately. She did not suffer any monetary loss.

06.06 The victim explained to me that she believed she had been scammed by someone who told her she was an Amazon employee. She went on to tell me she was trying to watch Prime Video through Amazon on her TV. She said that her TV showed there was some sort of issue with her account. She went online to amazon.tv and called a phone number near the top of the page. After she called, she was transferred to a male who called himself "Rohan." She said that Rohan stated he was an Amazon employee. He told her there was an issue with her account. She stated he was able to somehow show her some sort of paperwork that indicated he was an authentic employee of Amazon. She could not tell me how he showed her this paperwork and had no photos to show me. She said she spoke with Rohan for several hours and for multiple phone calls. She also told me that Rohan had her download two apps. The first was called "Anydesk" and the second was called "GoTo Resolve." She believes both of these apps were used to mirror what was on her phone and TV to Rohan because he was able to remote access both devices and display things on her screen. After he did that, she said Rohan instructed her to and assisted her with creating an account through American Express. She said the account was supposed to be one that money was only transferred through gift cards. Rohan was reportedly able to put $1900 of her money into the account. She later contacted American Express and was told that they put a hold on it due to the suspicious activity. That money was not actually transferred. She stated that Rohan also went into her Amazon account to conduct "test buys" of items, saying he was trying to see what was wrong with her account. She stated he bought a few items and returned them, returning her money. At the time, she thought he was trying to help her resolve the issues with her Amazon account. After starting to believe this may be a scam, she reached out to Amazon. She stated Amazon told her all items had been returned except Rohan bought a $100 Xbox gift card that he did not tell her about. This had not been returned and she said Amazon was already trying to get her money back. She believes that the $100 was the only amount of money that she had lost during this. She did mention that Rohan was trying to get her to move money on Cashapp through bitcoin currency.

06.05 The victim stated he received a phone call from 612-416-5233 earlier this morning. The male caller indicated he was his grandson and in trouble; he stated he needed help and money. When the victim asked specific questions about his grandson, the caller disconnected the call. The victim did not give out any financial or personal information and does not have a monetary loss. The phone number appears to be an untitled, disposable number.

06.05 The victim stated she received a voicemail message from a male claiming to be from the social security office. He stated she may be entitled to more money and should call him back; he left the phone number 866-309-1077. She did not call him back and just wanted the incident documented. A search of the phone number shows it's an untitled, disposable number.