11 November Scams
11.01 The victim paid for two snowmobile bags and a gas can over FB and now has not be able to get in contact with the seller. He saw the items for sale on a page called Mountain Sledder Swap Meet. He used Venmo and send $320. He said that after sending the money, he would ship the items and send him a shipping receipt. He sent the money on and tried to call Daniel and messaged him several times throughout the day but Daniel has not answered him.
11.01 The victim received a phone call from 763-333-1595 which indicated a Cambridge location. The male caller identified himself as Deputy Reginald Reed with the Anoka County Sheriff's Office. This male advised that he missed jury duty and had a summons for his arrest. When the victim questioned him multiple times, he terminated the phone call and did not call back. I confirmed that this was a phishing scam. No monetary loss occurred.
11.06 The victim stated she had received two scam phone calls today. The first call was from 612-345-6713. The second was from 763-309-9109. Both callers told her that they were trying to serve her with paperwork. The callers advised that this was their last attempt to contact her. They also provided her with a case number - 202337739. I looked up both phone numbers and the case number. They did not come back to anything on file in our systems. I advised her of this and told her to block the numbers. I advised her that this was most likely a scam. I also informed her that if she was being served with court paperwork, a Deputy would serve them to her in person.
11.07 The victim reported that she and her husband fell for a scam email. She reported that he opened their email account and it appeared to be having problems and locked up. She reported that a screen popped up with an error and to call Microsoft at 866-670-4174. She stated that when her husband called them they had him install "any desk" onto the computer so they could remote access in. After this occurred, they became suspicious after banking questions. They were able to bring the computer into a repair center to have it wiped. They also followed up with their bank and there was no activity at this time. I advised them on changing passwords and creating a new email account.
11.08 The victim found an offer online for a new Samsung Galaxy and Samsung watch, for $550. He purchased it. He was told that UPS would deliver the package, and he had to give a money order to the UPS person. The transaction was done, but when he later opened the box he found an old phone that didn't work. He tried contacting the unknown "company" and after a few attempts, he received a phone call from a cloned number stating they were the police. They told him that the company obtained an order for protection against him and that he violated it, so now they had an order to detain him unless he paid $150. He then began thinking this was a scam and the story didn't make a whole lot of sense. I reviewed the phone number (3233063700) and googled it, finding that it was a cloned Department of Homeland Security phone number. He was very thankful for the assistance and really just wanted to make sure his name was cleared.
11.09 The victim advised that she has been in contact with someone for the last few weeks that told her his name was Mark Williams and that he worked with her bank. She said that around Oct. 18th she opened her computer and saw a message on the bottom that said her bank account was compromised. She said that there was a phone number with this notification that told her to call to save her bank account. The person on the other end of the line was a phone scammer and they convinced her to send them $40,000 through Bitcoin to "save her bank account." She said the number that she has been in contact with primarily has been 646-995-2501. He convinced her that she had to transfer her money to a different account in a specific way to save her account. She has receipts from the machine that she was able to insert cash into and buy Bitcoin. The suspect then walked her through the way to transfer it to a different account. She advised that she talked with her bank and they said they could not reimburse her because she transferred the money voluntarily. I told her there is not much that we can do as law enforcement in situations like these. She told me that she figured that she would not get the money back but hoped that filing a police report would help bring awareness to the scams out there.
11.17 The victim received a phone call from 763 272 7218. The suspect told her he was Officer Mark Johnson from Anoka PD. "Mark" told her that she had received a subpoena in the mail to appear in court as a witness or jury duty, and that she signed the subpoena and returned it, but then never showed up for court, but none of this actually happened. "Mark" told her that she had a warrant and needed to pay $200 to clear her name, and he provided her three different case numbers. She realized it was a scam when "Mark" asked for money, and hung up on him and called Anoka County Courts to see if it was true, and they told her it wasn't. While on the phone with them, she received a phone call from the Sheriff's Office phone number but did not answer it. She assumed it was the suspect cloning his phone number to be the Sheriff's Office.
11.22 The victim received an email from “Xcel Energy” (cloned account) claiming she had a past due balance. She thought it was legit and paid the balance. She then began receiving phone calls that the payment was declined and she needed to pay again, but she knew this was false. She contacted her bank who confirmed she had paid a scammer, and not actually Xcel Energy. The bank stated they were in the process of refunding her the money and wanted her to report it to us.
11.24 The victim advised that she had recently got a new cell phone. When she the new phone, she advised that she had lost all of her login information. She googled how to get your login information for Facebook and she found a phone number online. She advised that she called the number and was connected with an individual who claimed to work for Facebook. She advised that the individual proceeded to obtain her bank debit card information and purchased Bitcoin and other various items totaling $2000. She advised that the suspect then told her that he could guarantee that she would get her money back if she sent him another $500 gift card from Walmart. The victim realized that it was probably a scam and canceled all of her cards.
11.24 The caller stated that his brother fell for a scam. His brother was contacted by a person claiming to be with the FBI and sent them money. I was able to talk to the brother and he stated that on Nov 15th, he was contacted by a male named Jason Smith and said he was a special agent with the FBI. He stated the male told him that he was investigating a child pornography case after a teenaged girl was recovered during an investigation. He stated the male told him that they got his phone number from the girls phone and that she sent him underage pornographic images. He stated that the male demanded that he send them $5000 in restitution fees. He stated that he used his Applepay and sent them $1100 that day. He stated that they called again this morning from 509-715-0814 and he gave them another $150. I advised him that this was a scam since restitution is ordered by a court and the FBI does not ask for that prior to a conviction. He stated that he did block the numbers from his phone.
11.27 The victim responded to a FB Messenger ad for a Peloton Bike for sale. The seller was her sister's neighbor, so she was not originally concerned. After negotiating a sale for $700, she worked out the details via text message. She sent the seller two separate payments; $450 through Paypal and $250 through Venmo. The process was difficult as several payments were blocked and she needed to try multiple times to complete the transaction. She became suspicious of the sale and had her brother-in-law reach out to his neighbor directly. She then learned that this FB account was hacked and she was not actually communicating with the seller. She has a monetary loss of $700.
11.27 The victim was scammed out of $3900 in gift cards. He stated that his computer locked up and he then started getting notifications and phone calls on how to unlock it. He was advised to purchase gift cards and Walmart for Apple and he also purchased American Express cards. He stated that the two names that were given from the scammers for Amy Charles and Daniel Walker and phone number 833-758-1059. The victim had already been in contact with his credit card company who advised him to make a police report.