03 March Scams

2024 

03.29 The victim received a suspicious phone call from someone claiming to be Lt. Dan Douglas with the Anoka County Sheriff's Office (we do have an employee with that name). She was told she missed Jury Duty and she was going to be charged via citation and she could be held in jail for 72 hours. She thought the entire phone call sounded suspicious and did not give out any personal information. Instead, she called the Sheriff's Office and Deputy Grover confirmed with her that this was a fraud and she was not under arrest. Deputy Grover called the number listed, and a male answered. He asked for Lt. Douglas, and he said he was speaking. Grover asked the male what his scam was because he knew he wasn’t Lt. Douglas. The male told Grover that the scamming business is good, and he gets people's credit card numbers because they are afraid of being arrested. The male did not give any information that could assist in locating him or finding his identity. 

03.28 The victim stated she first spoke with a male who identified himself as Leo and said he was located in Florida and offered her a $5,000 loan. He unfortunately stated her credit score wasn't good enough, but they could complete the transaction through CashApp. She was then transferred to a male in the “funding” department, and he identified himself as David Wilson. She stated they sent 
$977 to her CashApp account and requested she send it back to ensure it went through. She stated she sent the $977 back. She stated that they told her they would send $1,500 via CashApp but then she needed to go to Walmart with a code and they would transfer the full $5,000 after that. The victim told him she couldn't get to Walmart. Soon after she was notified by her bank that they froze her account due to the suspicious activity and she was out the $977. 

03.28 The victim said that she got an email from Norton stating that she had been billed $450 for their services. She called the phone number and they agreed to refund her $500. She said that she followed the male's directions, and he was able to gain remote access to her computer. The victim said that she had her banking information up on the computer during this time and during the refund process, an extra "0" was added to the $500 making it $5000 that was transferred into her bank. She said that the male then became agitated and said that he could not reverse the transaction and that she had to purchase Apple gift cards to get his money back. The victim was able to get $800 in gift cards and sent him the info for them. The male told the victim that they would continue the transaction tomorrow and that he would call her in the morning. She was told not to tell her bank about it or he would take all the money out of her account. I advised her to shut off the Wifi on her computer and turn it off. She was told to have the computer factory reset before she connects it to her internet again. She was also advised to go to her bank in the morning and advise them of the situation as well as change her banking password.

03.25 The victim stated he received two text messages this morning requesting $2K in the form of Apple Cards or nude photographs of him will be sent to his friends and family. The text included the photos and a list of his contacts. Earlier he stated he did send nude photographs to a person on an app called “Sniffies.” I advised him to block the number and not to send any money. I also advised him to not send nude photos to unknown people on apps.  

03.19 The caller stated a male contacted her and said he is with the Marshals Service. The male stated they are looking at a abandoned vehicle that is registered to the caller. The person stated they found things in the vehicle and wanted to confirm her information. The person asked about her previous addresses and said two of her previous correct addresses. She stated they wanted her to confirm her current address also. The victim stated she did not confirm any addresses, and asked for their information. She stated she was going to call her local police and they can get her information from them. I advised the caller not to give any information and hang up on them next time. 

3.18 The victim stated he had updated his internet router and as a result needed to setup his Amazon Alexa device to operate with the new router. He said he began to have technical issues with setting up the device and attempted to go online to begin troubleshooting these issues. He reported that he was subsequently contacted by "Geek Squad Store Online" a group which claimed to be a third party service which could assist him with his technical issues. He stated that the group then installed "AnyDesk" on his computer and began to perform services remotely on his computer. He stated that the group then requested that he pay them $700 for the services they had performed. The victim stated that he attempted to provide payment using his credit card however his bank flagged the charge as fraudulent. He said the group attempted to find alternative methods for him to pay with to include PayPal and Venmo which he found suspicious. He had been in contact with his bank regarding the flagged charge. The victim then determined that Geek Squad Store Online was not a legitimate business and the charge was denied. He stated that he had not suffered any financial loss at the time of the report and that he was continuing to monitor his finances for suspicious activity. 

03.14 The victim received a call indicating she had won the mega millions. She was informed by the male on the phone that a check would be presented to her on 3.15 in the amount of $950,000. She said the caller knew her address, but she had not entered any contests and had not played the lottery. She said the male told her that at 3pm on 3.15 two females would arrive at her residence with a dozen roses. He told her there would be cameras and she would be escorted to a bank where the money would be deposited into the account. I informed her that this was likely a scam and asked that she cease contact with the male. While on the phone with the victim, she picked up a call on a different phone from the male and put it on speaker phone. I was able to listen to the conversation. The male informed her that she would need to write a check or have a money order for $81 written out to the Minnesota State Capital and that once she had taken the check there, he would advise her on the next steps. She disconnected from the call with the male. I told her this was a scam. 

03.08 The caller stated a male who identified himself as Raymond Kennedy called her and left a voicemail advising she had won a sweepstakes from the Publishers Clearing House and to claim her prize she was directed to call 888-331-3590. No financial loss.  

03.08 The victim stated he received an email from what he thought was Harbor Freight that explained because he was a loyal customer he won a new tool chest. The email advised that he would need to complete the form to claim the tool chest and pay for shipping. He stated the email appeared legitimate because he was in fact a loyal customer and receives emails. He stated he completed the form, paid for the shipping, and was waiting to receive his tool chest. He stated the tool chest never was delivered so he started to look through his bank account statements and noticed two charges, one for $100 and a second for $60 to a company called Mystery Nutra Club. He stated he called the number and spoke with a female but received no answers to his questions. He stated he called his bank and closed his account immediately after. 

03.05 The victim stated he received a phone call from someone claiming to be replacing his Medicare card. He said the man who sounded foreign requested his social security number, Medicare number, and address which he provided. The victim stated he did not know who called, nor did he have the number the call came from. He informed me that he already contacted social security and his bank to ensure everything was secure. I advised him he may want to get a new social security number and I explained how to start the process. I also informed him he may want to attempt to get a new Medicare number as well. 

03.02 The victim began talking to Instagram user: Melloy6679. He said that he did not know who this person was, but saw that he had multiple friends that were following her and thought it was okay. Their conversation moved to Snapchat where their conversation turned sexual and inappropriate pictures were sent. The suspect then demanded $1,000.00 from the vicitim, otherwise they were going to send that picture to everyone he knows online. He sent Apple gift cards to the suspect, and she demanded more money, which he did not have. He called 911 at this time. I advised him to block the scamming accounts and report them to Instagram and Snapchat. While on the phone with the victim, he advised me that that they just posted the explicit pictures online. I advised him this is a common scam and to reach out to family and friends and advise them to delete any messages from Melloy_CH without opening it. I advised him to keep an eye on his bank accounts. 

03.01 The victim advised that he met an individual on a Facebook group for playing Monopoly. He advised that he bought stickers and dice rolls from the individual for $76. He said that he used Paypal to send the individual, only known as “Morgan” the money for the stickers; however, he never received anything. He reported the fraud to Paypal. The victim said that “Morgan” reached out to him again and said he would refund the money, but first, he wanted him to get two $50 Apple gift cards. The victim purchased the gift cards and gave the information to “Morgan”, but he still hasn't been refunded. I advised the victim to stop sending money, and it was a scam. 

03.01 The victim received a pop-up on his computer. The pop-up was from "Microsoft" stating his computer had been compromised. The pop-up instructed him to call Microsoft at 928-179-7945. The victim made the phone call and was advised that "Hackers" were in his computer and would empty his bank accounts if he didn't take action. This person encouraged him to call his bank and provided him the number to the fraud department. The person posing as the fraud department instructed the victim to physically empty all his money from his bank and bring it to a Bitcoin machine; one in Blaine and one in Ham Lake. The victim withdrew $15,000 in cash and deposited the money and sent a picture of the receipt as instructed. He then went to another bank and withdrew another $35,000 in cash and deposited it into another Bitcoin machine. Not fully understanding how Bitcoin works, he contacted customer support on the receipt from the Bitcoin machine. He was advised the money that he deposited had already been removed. 

2023

March 16th, 2023 - Fake grandchild scam:
The victim reported that he was contacted on 03/09/23 by somebody claiming to be his grandson. The caller proceeded to tell him that he had been arrested in Georgia after a police chase and needed $15,000 to get an attorney who could help him bail out and fight the charges. He said he spoke with a female who told him her name was Abby (no last name given), as well as a male who
gave the name Nicholas Somberg. Somberg claimed he was a public defender and that he was able to help his grandson. He was instructed to send $15,000 in cash, wrapped in t-shirts, via UPS. The
address he was instructed to send the money to turned out to be a vacant rental property. He provided a tracking # which shows that he requested that the package be returned to him. The tracking # also shows that the package is being held at a "government facility" in Georgia. At the time of this report it is unclear as to whether or not he will get his money back.

March 13th, 2023 - Call from Corporate Work Scam:
The victim stated that she got a phone call at 4:13pm from Speedway Corporate; it appeared on the caller ID. She believed that it was corporate calling and followed the instructions given to her. The caller told her the network was down and advised her to physically close the store, which she did. The caller later had her disconnect the phones and called the victim on her cellphone. She was instructed to place money on various gift cards and from 721pm to 956pm, 15 gift cards were activated for a total of $4095. She provided the caller with all the information from the cards, which means they could be used immediately. The caller had also advised the victim to move the $5's and $10's out of the safe and into the register and was worried that they might have intended to come to the store to rob her.

March 8th, 2023 - Computer being hacked scam:
The victim reported that his computer was locked up and being controlled by someone. He was communicating with someone via phone and he was instructed he needed to send $30,000 to an address in Florida. The victim banks at Wells Fargo and went to two different banks to withdraw the $30,000. He obtained the cash and was instructed to send it to and address is Melbourne Florida. He went to a UPS store and sent the cash to that address on an overnight delivery. After he sent the money he knew he was scammed. He tried calling the local police in Florida however was unable to obtain any help he was looking for. I was able to speak to a Detective from the Broward County Sheriff/Melbourne Police Fraud Task Force about this issue. They were already aware of the address and the type of scam being committed. The detective was able to track the package which was delivered the day prior to this on 3-7-23 at 0930 hours. I gave this detective the victim’s information and he will contact him.

March 7th, 2023 - Don't send deposit via electronic cash apps:
I made contact with the victim and she stated that a female named Melissa Sue listed a donkey for sale on Facebook Market Place for $500. She stated that she responded to the post and was messaging back and forth with Melissa and was told that the donkey was at Birchbury Farms. She stated that she used Venmo to send Melissa a $200 deposit for the donkey on 02/25/2023. She said that after the money was sent, Melissa never responded back to her messages and deleted the posting and her account on Facebook. The victim googled the farm and called the number and spoke with a female. The victim stated she told her that a Melissa did not live or work at the farm and that the farm didn't have any donkeys.

March 5th, 2023 - A twist on the naked photo blackmail scam:
I spoke with the mother of the victim. She reported that around 10:00 AM on 03/05/23 her son began to receive messages on Instagram from the account TAYLOR_alice237. The user claimed that the account user had access to her son’s banking information from Huntington Bank. The suspect sent additional messages to the son on Instagram stating that they would take money from his bank account unless he provided them with pictures of himself. The suspect demanded that these pictures be of him completely undressed. He provided pictures. The suspect then advised the victim that they would share the images with his friends on Instagram unless he provided them with $100. I advised them to discontinue any communication with the suspect. At the time of the report the images had not been disseminated by the suspect and no funds had been exchanged.