08 August Scams
08.28 The father of the victim advised that someone online was trying to extort his son. The son has been using an app called "Wiz." Through Wiz, he was briefly speaking with an unknown person with a female and a dog in a profile picture. He claimed that he blocked this person 3 weeks ago and had no way to get the username. He had previously given his phone number to this person. Today, someone was texting him from the email, "hammedmoshood305@gmail.com." The son stated they asked for a picture of his privates, but he did not send it. He then stated that they somehow got a photo of him and photoshopped a picture of a private on it and threatened to send it to all of his contacts unless he sent $50. No money was sent. He also stated that after he blocked the email address from texting him but another
08.26 The victim stated that on 8/25/2023 she googled booking.com and called 240-979-1616 to attempt to get a refund from a hotel she didn't use last October. She stated she spoke with a male with broken English who advised her account was closed and that she would need to go to Target who they are in affiliation with to get a gift card for $330 dollars to send them and they would reimburse her at that time. She stated she went to Target and got the gift card and contacted the male again and gave him the card number. He told her the computer system timed out and she needed to do it again, so she went and got another $330 dollar gift card from Target. The male told her the same thing, so he told her to go to Walgreens to get a gift card for $400 dollars at Game Stop, so she did and gave him the info. At this time her husband spoke with the male and thought something was up. They contacted the bank and they advised her the money was out of her account and she called both Target and Walgreens and was advised they were now zeroed. She had no other information and had contacted the proper people to help her out. I googled the number and it came back warning for fraud.
08.23 The victim has sent approximately $40,000 to someone that he met online. The person scammed him into believing that they needed the money to help them gain access to other money which they would then give him back more than he gave them. He sent this person money over Cashapp after they reached out to him on Google Chat and asked for help with their situation. Over the last three months he has sent payments of up to $2000 dollars at a time to a person with the phone number 530-236-3305 who goes by the name Issabella. This person said they live in California. The victim told me that he just wanted to report the incident to law enforcement in case when he followed up with Cashapp and the bank, they told him that he had to contact law enforcement first.
08.22 The victim stated he was scammed out of $800 on Instagram. He stated that he responded to an Instagram about painting a photo and he was sent two $1000.00 checks to his email address. He deposited one of the checks and thought it went through so he sent the unknown scammer $800 through Apple cash. He then realized the $1,000 check did not clear. He also advised that he received phone calls and emails that were threatening in nature if he did not send more money. He deleted all the emails and phone numbers except for one from 650-250-2475. In checking that phone number, it is no longer valid. I advised him to check with his bank and Apple cash to see if there is anything they can assist him with.
08.21 The victim advised she has sent 22 gift cards worth up to $540 to a male that she has been talking to for a couple weeks. I could partially identify the male. She showed me an abundance of messages between the two that had both personal topics along with the suspect attempting to get money. The victim stated it started by a scam email getting sent to her that had a fake check worth $2,000. I advised her to block the suspect.
08.21 The victim’s daughter advised 'Publisher Clearing House' contacted her mother telling her she won a contest. 'Publisher Clearing House' stated they would be showing up at her home to award her a check. Before the individuals would show up at the residence, they told her to get a American Express gift card. The individuals stated they would pick up the gift card at her home. She stated she
did not tell them her address but was worried that they would show up. She was assured that it was unlikely they would show up, but to call if she noticed any suspicious activity. The victim was advised to ignore the number if it called back.
08.18 The victim stated that he has been harassed in an attempt to extort him. He said he had been talking with a female online and they eventually exchanged nude photos. Today, an unknown person has been threatening to share his photos on social media if he didn't pay $500. He stated that he didn't send any money so he's not out a loss. He was advised to not cave to the scam and just to stop responding to the messages and block the number.
08.18 The victim said a random screen appeared on his computer advising him to call Apple tech support. He looked up the number and called. The male he was speaking to was telling him to go to his credit union and transfer $25,000 into a private bank account. He arrived at the bank and advised bank staff about the fraud. The bank staff told him to call us. He froze all his bank accounts. He lost no money during the incident.
08.18 The victim reported being blackmailed on Instagram. He stated that someone with the username of "amanda_hidrogo20" added him and started direct messaging him. The user of the account sent him some pictures he recognized as nude pictures of himself. The user then demanded $300 from him or they would send those pictures to his followers. He stated the photos were from when he was either 19 or 20 years old. He sent $20 to the Venmo account "kaylind5" to see what happened. They then demanded $600 instead of the original $300. At that point, the victim stated he blocked the person on all accounts and decided to call law enforcement. He did not wish to pursue any criminal charges and was not concerned about the $20 which was lost.
08.18 The victim was scammed on Snapchat. He told me he had been messaging a girl on Snapchat, who asked for inappropriate pictures of him. He sent the pictures. The account user then threatened to leak the photos to his Instagram followers if he did not send money. He sent a small amount of money and then told his mom about it. I told him this is a common scam and to stop all communication. I told him it is unlikely for a random girl on the internet to start messaging him, and it was most likely a boy in a different country trying to scam him. He said he understood and would stop communication.
08.15 The victim reported he had received a bill from McAfee for $568. He believed this was legitimate at first since he had just bought a computer. He said he was also contacted by someone from phone number 731-258-2583 multiple times and harassed to pay the bill. He said he sent cash to an address in New York for the bill. He said that the suspect was able to take $19,000 from his bank account. He was talking to the person from the unknown phone number and a hypnotic music was playing that placed him into a trance. He said he allowed the person to remote into his computer and due to being placed in the trance, he was not able to stop the suspect from gaining his banking information. He alerted his bank fraud department.
08.09 The victim reported that she got a text indicating that there were some suspicious charges on her Amazon account. She called the listed number and the phone was answered by a male who instructed her to buy gift cards at both Target and Walmart for $1000.00 each. In the end, she did not buy the cards and is out no money in this case. She was concerned that the caller may have some of her personal information. I advised her to contact Amazon and the familiar credit bureaus as well as her bank and monitor for fraudulent activity.