Warning: scam artist in Santa Monica area

From: Georgie Hinklemyer <samoolives_at_yahoo.com_at_hypermail.org>
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 05:15:58 -0000

Sad to say, this really happened to a friend of mine. The following
is a (long) article from a local synagogue newsletter descibing the
offense, and a request that if you see anyone matching the
descriptions below or attempting this scam on someone else to please
call SM police. They're VERY interested in catching these people.
Especially since it involves impersonating an officer.
--Debbie

-=-=-

A double scam perpetrated by four people occurred in our Beth Shir
Sholom neighborhood the week ending May 15, 2005. The first part of
the scam, an old one known far and wide, took place on the bus bench
located at 18th & Wilshire Boulevard by the Pilgrim Lutheran Church.
The victim, an older lady, was seated on the bus bench
waiting for a bus when she was approached by a distraught woman
looking for an address which turned out to be non-existent. Another
woman joined the duo asking if she could be of assistance. The upset
woman claimed to be from Johannesburg, South Africa and had come to
the United States because her brother died and had left money to her.
When she was told that the address was not in the Santa Monica area,
she said she only wanted to go home and get away from the United
States because everyone was trying to steal from her.

The bottom line to this scam (known as a "bait and switch") was that
she wanted to give her brother's fifty thousand dollars to the victim
and/or to the other lady so that they could give it to charity
however, she did not want to give it to people who would use it
themselves. So she requested that the other woman and the victim put
up some good faith money and she would turn over the fifty thousand to
them. The other woman drove the upset woman and the victim to the
victim's bank where a large amount of money was withdrawn and given to
the woman from South Africa along with the victim's name and address.

On Friday, May 13, 2005, the second part of the scam took place when
two men knocked on the door of the victim's home and identified
themselves as LAPD officers showing what appeared to be legitimate
LAPD badges and I.D. The victim admitted them to her home wherein they
told her that they had arrested in Los Angeles the two women who had
scammed her and needed her help. They told the victim that they had
recovered the money taken from her but that it was counterfeit and
that her bank had been under surveillance as someone from the bank was
passing counterfeit money. They needed the victim to go to her bank
and withdraw a like amount so that they could take it to headquarters
and match the serial numbers. It would be returned to her the
following Monday and they would call her first. She withdrew the money
and gave it to the pseudo cops.

On Monday the victim received no phone call nor did she receive one on
Tuesday. On Wednesday, she finally called the Santa Monica Police
Department. They are very concerned about the two men posing as LAPD
officers as well as the entire scam.

If anyone has seen anything suspicious around the bus bench at 18th &
Wilshire or anywhere in the neighborhood; or knows of anyone who has
been caught up in such a scam; or has been scammed themselves -- the
perpetrators are a black lady who claims to be from Johannesburg,
South Africa; or a very dark black man from Minnesota (approximately
6' 180-190 lbs) -- please contact the following detectives from the
Santa Monica Police Department: Dean Oshiro (310) 458-8491 (lead
detective) or Maury Sumlin (310) 458-8437. Also involved in this case
is Susan Fitzsimmons (310) 458-8491.

The police requested that we try and reach as many people as possible.
It is most important that you tell everyone, particularly our older
population who are prime targets for these predators, to be extremely
careful.
Received on 2005-05-31 22:16:16