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From Florida – Advisory of Bank Fraud Against Senior Citizens. The Orlando Police Department and Orange County Sheriff’s Office are beginning to experience a rash of Bank/ATM card frauds being perpetrated against elderly victims. The offense appears to be orchestrated by a female using the following Method of Operation: The victims (age 70) are called by a female who identifies herself as being from the victim’s bank’s 24-hour ATM service. The suspect states that the bank is changing its ATM cards and needs to pick up the victim’s card and PIN number. The victim is instructed to place the card and PIN number in her mailbox and the caller will send someone to pick it up. The caller is very articulate and well mannered. There is usually a promise to deliver a new card within a day or two. If the victim complies with the instructions, the suspect(s) immediately begin withdrawing cash from the victim’s account. The calls to the victim are usually made after normal banking hours so that the victim can’t verify the information. A team consisting of a black female and a white female have been identified as perpetrating these offenses.
From New England — Gypsy Suspects: Call Forwarding Intelligence Information. Call forwarding is being used by certain criminal Gypsy subjects in an effort to use officers to establish an alibi. In several incidents in New England, local Gypsies have called law enforcement agencies and left messages for officers they know to call them (at a phone number they are known to use locally). When the call is returned, the subject answers and leaves the caller with the definite impression that he (the subject) is at the number called. Unknown to the officer, the call has been forwarded to another location. If any problems arise from the suspect’s activities in the area they were actually in, the suspect will attempt to use the phone call from the officer in the jurisdiction where they live as proof that they were not in the area where the problem occurred.
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