MONROE, CT — Detectives are working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in an effort to stop the fraudulent transfer of $97,982 from a 54-year-old Monroe woman’s Bank of America account after she fell victim to a scam on Thursday.
Officers responded to the complaint, made Friday at 8:55 a.m.
The victim told police she received a phone call Thursday from a woman claiming to be with Bank of America. The caller asked if she authorized a $1,000 payment for a rental car in Texas and the victim said she did not.
The caller confirmed the last four digits of the woman’s bank account before asking if she authorized a wire transfer of $97,982. When she said no, the caller said she would transfer the call to the Fraud Department.
The victim was given the option of a Zoom or FaceTime call with the “fraud investigator”. She chose FaceTime, but could not see the face of the woman who got on the call, according to police.
The “investigator” told the victim she had to log into her account, so she could walk her through canceling the transfer.
The caller instructed her to route the money to a bank in Florida, which she said was a bank belonging to the FDIC. Police said the victim made the transfer of $97,982, which actually went to the criminals who scammed her.
Thieves target neighborhoods
Police are investigating numerous thefts from unlocked vehicles overnight, which were reported Sunday.
At 7:09 a.m. on Sunday, a Rygate Terrace woman told officers her vehicle was entered and a pair of shoes and a gym bag were stolen. She said she received a notification on her phone around 2 a.m. that her car door was open, according to police.
Police later found the stolen gym bag on side of road.
Then at 7:47 a.m., officers responded to a call about a Jeep Grand Cherokee parked in middle of street on Arbor Road. The owner, who also lives on the street, told police she last saw her jeep when it was left unlocked in her driveway with the key fob on the driver’s seat, according to the report.
The victim did not know how, why or when the vehicle was left in the middle of street, police said.
Detectives processed the jeep for evidence at the scene. The glove compartment had been rummaged through and the front passenger window was opened, but nothing appeared to have been taken, police said.
At 12:30 p.m., police responded to a call at an address on Elm Street where three unlocked vehicles — two Subarus and a BMW — were entered during the night. Police said thieves made off with paperwork and two pocket knives.
A Ring camera showed the theft took place around 2:07 a.m.
At 9:33 a.m., a Longview Road man told police someone smashed the driver’s side window to enter his 2021 Kia and steal his wallet.
The wallet was later returned to the victim minus a credit card and a two dollar bill, police said, adding two small charges made in New Haven were on the card since the theft.
At 5:09 p.m., a Far Horizon Drive man reported an attempted burglary, during which someone broke a window on his garage door and had tampered with a security camera, pointing it up toward the sky.
Police said no entry was made and nothing was taken.
A neighbor told officers she noticed “two or three” individuals wearing dark clothing run to a vehicle on the street, police said. She did not have any other descriptions, but found headphones left in the roadway in front of her house and turned it over to police.
On Monday, a dog walker found two wallets on the side of Arbor Road. Police said one was completely emptied out, but the other appeared to belong to a Purdy Hill Road resident.
It was returned to the owner. Police said he had left his car unlocked in his driveway on Sunday morning and was unaware his wallet was missing.
DUI at Hidden Knolls
A 69-year-old Hidden Knolls resident was charged with DUI on Aug. 23, after police say he crashed into two parked vehicles that were unoccupied with his Nissan Sentra around 8:19 p.m.
Officers responding to the accident said the driver appeared to be unsteady on his feet and had the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath. Police said he admitted to drinking at a bar in Shelton, then failed field sobriety tests leading to his arrest.
He was charged with DUI and failure to drive in the established lane and released after posting 10 percent of $500 bond for a Sept. 10 court date.
The Nissan, which was towed due to disabling damage, hit a Chrysler 300 and a BMW X3 that were in parking spaces on Senior Drive, both were damaged and the Chrysler was towed.
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