On Nov. 10, TFC M. Laney of the Leonardtown barracks responded to Indian Bridge Road, California for the reported fraud and identity theft.
A man, identified by police only as Richard, advised that on November 8, 2005 he received a phone call on his cell phone from a male he could not understand. After several attempts the victim gave the male his work number and asked that he be called there.
The male called and introduced himself as “James, employee #3558.” He continued to talk to Richard about being pre-qualified for government grants.
Richard assumed that the call was legit since he had looked into government grants before.
“James” began to explain the process to Richard and asked for the last four numbers of his social security number. When Richard was hesitant about giving the information, “James” again explained more about the grants.
Richard gave the information about his social security number and the location of his bank. When asked for his account number, however, he became suspicious and hung up.
He was able to obtain the address where “James” stated the business was located. “James” advised the name and address of the company was United Services at 111 Frank E. Rogers Blvd., Harrison, NJ 07029, Suite #205.
Richard was given a phone number “866-384-8185” to call if he had any questions. The phone number went to a voice mail box that was full; the phone then disconnected.
When he called his bank to change his account information he was advised by a bank representative that he was the second person to call about the same account. The employee advised that a male with an Arabic accent stated he was “the victim” and needed his account information. The employee felt that the name and the accent did not match and would not give any information.
Richard went to the bank and changed his information. He also contacted the Federal Trade Commission and advised them of the incident. A copy of the investigation is being forwarded to Harrison Police Department for further investigation.