Fraudulent Scam Arrest
On September 1st, 2022, Simi Valley Police Detectives spoke to a Victim, in her 70’s, in reference to a Fraud Investigation. The Victim said over the course of the last month, she was contacted, over the phone, by someone claiming to be an Amazon Employee working in the Fraud/Security Department. This Suspect claimed the Victim’s computer had been hacked and it would take a large sum of money to reverse the damages. The Victim then provided the Suspect with remote access to her computer.
With remote access, the Suspect altered the Victim’s bank account information, leading the Victim to believe she was returning fraudulent money to Amazon in return for them cleaning her computer of viruses and hackers. Over the course of the next (30) days, the Victim provided the Suspects with over $85,000 in a combination of gifts cards and cash. Furthermore, the Suspect was expecting another payment of $50,000 the following day.
Simi Valley Police Detectives, utilizing the information received from the Victim, then conducted a surveillance in the area of Costco (25 W. Cochran St. Simi Valley, Ca). While in the lot, Detectives located Suspect-Damanpreet Singh 35 YOA, from Sylmar, Ca. Singh was at the location to collect the $50,000 from our Victim. Evidence was collected linking Singh to this scam and information was received linking Singh to previous cash pick ups from our Victim.
Singh was arrested and booked into Ventura County Main Jail for the following violations: 487(a) PC/Grand Theft, 182(a)(1) PC/Conspiracy, 368(d) PC/Elder Abuse, and 532(a) PC/Theft by False Pretense.
The Simi Valley Police Department would like to caution our community about these types of scams. A major red flag in these types of scams, are Suspects asking for remote access to computers/laptops, gift cards as payment, and any payment using Crypto Currency. We take all forms of elder abuse very seriously. Call our department if you believe that you or a loved one is the victim of an elder abuse crime.
Detective Sergeant Patrick Zayicek
Detective Bureau/Property Crimes
Media Contact: (805) 583-6209
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Address/Location
Simi Valley Police Department
3901 Alamo St
Simi Valley, CA 93063
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 805-583-6950