After days on the phone with a man falsely claiming to be from PayPal’s fraud department, an elderly woman was convinced to place $5000 in cash in her letterbox.
A NSW Police investigation into the scam later uncovered a brazen attempt to email and call senior citizens with a ruse about their bank accounts being hacked before several were persuaded to leave out credit and debit cards, and money.
The victims divulged confidential details through lengthy phone calls with unknown persons pretending to be from PayPal’s fraud department, Telstra’s security crime investigation squad or McAfee Antivirus.
The fraudsters typically claimed that people’s bank details had been hacked and were being used for nefarious purposes, including to buy drugs and weapons overseas, court documents revealed.
Cards had to be put in an envelope and placed in the victims’ letterboxes to be collected by security officials and locked down to prevent funds from being stolen, the scammers said.
One man – Indian student Aman Kumar – has been caught and admitted his role in the syndicate, pleading guilty to almost 40 fraud charges at Blacktown Local Court.
The 22-year-old, who lives in Quakers Hill in Sydney’s west, collected bank cards and $5000 in cash from the homes of five victims, siphoning a total of around $48,000 from their credit and debit accounts.
He told police after his arrest in November that he had taken instructions through WhatsApp from an unknown person.
One victim was told to withdraw $20,000 from her Commonwealth Bank account and place the money in an envelope in her letterbox.
Prevented by bank staff from taking out such a large amount of money, she eventually withdrew $5000 and left it where it was picked up by Kumar.
The student was seen on CCTV footage making a slew of purchases with the fraudulently obtained cards at shopping centres and petrol stations across Sydney.
He purchased a total of 10 iPhones, selling them to a man in a Strathfield car park.
The money from these sales was then taken to a woman he met in a car park in Bankstown, he told police.
He also purchased $4150 in Vanilla Visa gift cards and would photograph the relevant details, sending them to the syndicate through WhatsApp.
Thousands of dollars more was withdrawn from ATMs or transferred internationally via Western Union.
Kumar was also caught purchasing items for himself from the stolen funds, including basketball shoes, branded sports clothing, groceries, fuel, cigarettes and beverages.
Three elderly women lost between $6600 and $17,000, while one couple had almost $12,000 stolen.
Kumar remains in custody after police raised concerns he could flee to India if he was released on bail.
The court has been asked to force the 22-year-old to repay amounts defrauded from the five victims.
He has pleaded guilty to 27 fraud charges and one count of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime, and will appear in court for a sentence hearing on January 24.
https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/fake-crime-squad-duped-elderly-in-letterbox-scam-c-17405398
