Arlington Heights police received a report about 1:01 PM Thursday of deception fraud involving a victim that lives in condo/apartments in the block of 1200 South Old Wilke Road Arlington Heights, IL. Police received a report that an unknown offender or offenders emailed the victim with instructions to go to Walmart to purchase Green Dot Money Pak cards. The victim received a check in the mail and deposited into a bank account. The victim thought she was participating in a survey project for an online research company. The victim purchased the Green Dot Money Pak cards for $900 and $300 before the deposited check cleared. The victim was then contacted by the bank and informed the deposited check was counterfeit. The Green Dot Money Pak cards purchased by the victim had already been cashed. The victim is then responsible for paying the bank the $1200 total to cover the cost of the fraudulent check amount.
Scammers trick victims into sending the PIN numbers located on the back of Green Dot “MoneyPak” cards, which essentially gives away the “password” to the scammer so he or she can control of the money loaded into the MoneyPak account. The scammer’s use of the PIN to deplete funds from the MoneyPak account is fast and untraceable. You can’t get your money back.
The crime is reported to have occurred between Monday, March 17, 2014 at 9:36 a.m. and Thursday, March 27, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.
Get updates from The Cardinal CRIME BLOG ‘Plus’ on Facebook. Just ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Crime & Forensics’ Page (become a fan of our page). The updates cover all posts in the 24/7 Crime Alerts! and sub-categories. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …