BEL AIR, Md — An email purportedly from the Inspector General’s office warned the 73-year-old woman that she’d been targeted with identity theft followed by a phone call from Social Security.
In a bid to save her life savings, she handed a million dollars over to what turned out to be a con artist.
“They seem convincing,” said Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, “Their story is there. They tell it, and they get people to believe they have some facts and they use those against you to make you think that it’s a legitimate purpose, but as we say so often, if something doesn’t feel right or sound right, just hang up on them and call us and let us look into it.”
Over a five-week period, the victim met each week in person with the criminal to hand over her savings, which had been converted into gold and cash.
Once she realized she’d been taken, her family called police and investigators linked the suspect’s vehicle to a husband and wife team from southern Maryland who were in the country illegally and arrested them.
“He showed up and I don’t remember if it was a picture they took or they made a note of the tag, so that’s what allowed us to put this all together and bring this case to charges,” said Gahler, “We got lucky.”
Just how convincing were the couple?
Well, they also face charges for a similar scam in upstate New York, as well as another one that’s still pending, which is also in Harford County.
“We have another victim here in the county who… it’s not a million dollars, but it’s somewhere in the realm of $900,000,” said Gahler, “and there may be other victims out there who haven’t come forward.”
If you feel like you might have fallen victim to the same scam, you’re asked to call the Criminal Investigations Division here at the Harford County Sheriff’s Office at 410-836-5428.
