Rancho Cucamonga Police Warns the Public of Phone Scams After Victim is Scammed Out of $10,000
DATE/TIME: SEPTEMBER 4, 2021 / 12:08 PM
INCIDENT: GRAND THEFT
LOCATION: RANCHO CUCAMONGA
SUSPECT(S): UNKNOWN
VICTIM(S): 80-YEAR-OLD MALE, OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA
SUMMARY: On Saturday, September 4, 2021, at approximately 12:08 p.m., Deputy Chapman of the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department responded to a report of a victim being scammed out of approximately $10,000.
Through the investigation it was learned the victim wanted to cancel a computer service subscription he had with Best Buy. The victim located a phone number on the internet he thought was for Best Buy services and called it. Under direction from the person on the other end, the victim was told to use both cash and credit cards to purchase approximately $10,000 in Apple gift cards in order to cancel his subscription. The victim complied and relayed the numbers on the back of the cards over the phone to the person pretending to be a Best Buy representative. By the time the victim realized the number he called was fraudulent and that he had been scammed, the gift cards had already been redeemed for their monetary value.
Suspects use many different scenarios to scam our citizens. Suspects may call, falsely represent themselves, and threaten to take people to jail. They may say they are with the IRS and threaten the victim claiming they owe money or they may claim to be a utility company attempting to collect on a past due account. Each of these scams will typically have these things in common; the situation must be handled urgently, and the suspects will demand Apple or Green Dot gift cards, or some type of cyber currency like Bitcoin for payment.
Please be aware of these scams and don't become a victim. Legitimate businesses won't ask for gift cards or cyber currency as payment. Additionally, law enforcement will not call you, threaten you, or demand some kind of payment over the phone to remedy an issue. The IRS won't call you for past due taxes and demand payment over the phone and utility companies will always allow you to call or access their service centers to make any past due payments.
Lastly, if you do believe it may be a legitimate creditor reaching out to you, tell them you'll call them back. Hang up and contact them by using a phone number provided on your monthly statement or found on their legitimate website. Do not call them back at a number they provide, as it may be fraudulent and part of their scam.
Help us keep our community safe by sharing these tips with friends and family.
Refer: Deputy Chapman
Station: Rancho Cucamonga
Phone No. 909-477-2800
Case No. 112109918
SHANNON D. DICUS, Sheriff-Coroner
San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department
Address/Location
SBSD - Rancho Cucamonga Police Department
10510 Civic Center Dr
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 909-477-2800