MONROE, Conn. — A 74-year-old Monroe man transferred $2,000 to thieves in an elaborate phone scam, before becoming suspicious, ending the call and contacting police, according to a complaint made on June 18.
The incident began when he received a “routine security compliance” text message from an international number claiming there was an Apple Pay transaction of close to $285 on his account. If he did not make the transaction, he was given a 1-800 number for the “Apple Security Team” to dispute it.
Police said he called the number to say he did not make the transaction and a representative told him someone from Bank of America would call him.
A man identifying himself as “Michael Murphy” of Bank of America called the victim and told him there was an attempt to withdraw $3,900 from his bank account. If he did not act within three-to-four hours, Murphy told him he would lose all his money, according to the report.
The Monroe man was told to withdraw $4,000 from his Bank of America account, but not to tell the teller anything, because there was an internal investigation into who was trying to remove money from his account.
He withdrew the money as instructed and was told to go to Walmart. Someone identifying himself as Adam Smith from What’s App, called the victim and told him to deposit $2,000 into a virtual wallet using a bar code, and instructed him to take a photo of the bar code and text it to him.
After following the instructions, Smith told him to do the same thing with the remaining $2,000. Because he was in a long line, Smith told him to instead buy $2,000 worth of gift cards. That’s when police said the victim became suspicious that it was a scam and ended the call.
The incident is still under investigation.
When faced with a similar situation, Monroe Police Lt. Helio Ramalhete recommends going to your bank and speaking to a banker directly.
Crash with evading
The driver of a dark sedan crashed into a traffic signal pole at the entrance to Clock Tower Square at 477 Main Street on June 20, leaving car debris on the lawn, before taking off.
Police noticed the damage around 12:30 a.m. and officers believe the vehicle was a blue Toyota Camry, a model somewhere between 2007 to 2009, based on the debris.
A day after the incident, an officer stopped another driver for a traffic violation, who said she had witnessed the accident when she was heading south on Main Street. She said she saw a dark colored sedan going north that tried to pass a truck headed in the same direction. The Toyota swerved to the left and hit the pole, according to the report.
However, police said she did not get the license plate number and didn’t see the driver.
Police checked cameras in the area, but could not identify the Toyota. The evading incident is still under investigation.
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