Here's a bit more about the scam and its mechanics. It looks to be pretty
common:
http://www.sfgov.org/site/police_index.asp?id=27218
> 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 victim's bank where a large amount of money was withdrawn and given to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.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
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>
>
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>
Received on 2005-05-31 22:22:16