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Columbia Township Police Department
Tuesday January 31st, 2012 :: 12:06 p.m. EST

Advisory

Columbia Township Police Department is conducting an ongoing fraud investigation and is warning the community of scams.

This information is to detail a current fraud investigation, and although the investigation is ongoing, it is being released at this time to help warn others about these ongoing scams.

On Tuesday, January 24, 2012, Columbia Township Police were dispatched to CVS Pharmacy in Brooklyn, where an elderly customer was attempting to purchase a “Green Dot Moneypak” card. The employees were suspicious as this was not the first card this local resident had purchased, as well as because she was attempting to refund a Money Gram transaction. The Moneypak cards are available for amounts up to $500.00, which was the amount of all of the cards this victim was transacting.

Sgt. Jay Niles responded, and spoke with the victim at the store. The victim gave a story about using the cards to pay for an expense that did not make sense, and Sgt. Niles followed-up with the victim at her residence after leaving the store. He then learned that the victim had also been purchasing Western Union cards, and also sending money via Western Union. The documents and cards that were recovered at that time totaled approximately $11,000.00. The victim was advised not to contact or take calls from the suspects, as they were stealing her money. The victim provided Sgt. Niles with the name of a relative, and contact with him was attempted at that time.

The investigation would reveal that the suspects in this case would call the victim repeatedly, telling her that she had won a lottery of $450,000.00, and that she needed to send off (typically) $500.00 so they could send her the winnings.

Green Dot Money Pak cards are activated at the cash register, and must be paid for in cash. After purchase, the victim would telephone the suspect, or vice versa, and the victim would provide the suspect with the scratched-off number on the back of the purchased card. The suspect can then access those funds immediately, in a number of ways, including transfer to other cards (debit, for example), bank accounts, cash, paypal accounts, etc.

On Wednesday, January 25, 2012, the victim had returned to CVS to again attempt to purchase another Money Pak card. CVS turned her away, and she returned home. Contact was again made with her at her residence in Columbia Township. At that time, the adult son of the victim was located, and he responded to the residence. When he arrived, the suspects were again speaking on the phone with the victim. The son disabled the home phone, and had the cell phone company change the cell phone number.

The suspects in this case are very persistent and creative. They have been on the phone with the victim when police arrived, and even after speaking with officers by phone, continue to call the victim. They somehow learned the name of a neighbor of the victim, and after the phone had been disconnected, they called the neighbor, posing as a relative of the victim, asking that the neighbor get the victim’s new phone number and provide it to them (the suspects). It also appears that the suspects were able to convince the victim to provide them with her password information for her online telephone account, and they then went in and changed her password, which prevented even family from being able to easily change her phone number.

A daughter of the victim has also intervened, and has been working toward tracking the total amount of fraud perpetrated on her mother. It is believed that the total will be in excess of $40,000.00. The mother’s finances and bank accounts are now being overseen by the daughter, and contact with the suspects, who are very creative and persistent, is finally being stopped.

The investigation has also revealed that the suspects convinced the victim to write large checks, and mail them to other people in the United States, who would then cash the checks, and then typically wire-transfer the money to the suspects.

Although the investigation is ongoing, it is highly unlikely that any of the defrauded funds will ever be recovered. The records uncovered thus far indicate the suspects are likely in Jamaica and Costa Rica, or other distant places. The FBI has also been notified of this investigation.

This detailed press release is being completed in an effort to serve as a warning for not only other elderly people that may be falling prey to these frauds, but also for the family members of these potential victims. Most times, the suspects convince the victims to keep these transactions a secret. After being discovered, the victims are typically embarrassed, fear loss of independence, and will attempt to hide that they were victimized. Family members with elderly parents or relatives are encouraged to discuss these scams with them, and ensure that there are adequate mechanisms in place to stop or prevent these frauds.

Additionally, Congressman Walberg’s office has been contacted in an effort to shine light on these wire transfers and money cards that seem to be a vehicle for defrauding the elderly.

Address/Location
Columbia Township Police Department
8500 Jefferson Rd
Brooklyn, MI 49230

Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 517-592-3122

Jay Niles
Patrol
[email protected]
517-592-3122

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