Sacramento Man Arrested in $270,000 FTC Impersonation Scam Targeting Michigan Senior
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Finance · Sep 12
Sacramento Man Arrested in $270,000 FTC Impersonation Scam Targeting Michigan Senior
2 articles · Updated · Yahoo Finance · Sep 12
Summary
$270,000 was drained from a 70-year-old Hazel Park woman's pension accounts after police say a fake FTC agent threatened her with arrest over fabricated drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
March emails and follow-up calls pushed the woman to buy gold, hand it over at her home, and later surrender cash after the scammer warned her not to contact police.
Hazel Park police opened an investigation after the promised money was not returned and used community Flock camera footage to identify and arrest a 30-year-old man from Sacramento.
The case follows a common government-impersonation pattern flagged by the FTC, in which scammers pose as officials and use threats of legal trouble to force payments or obtain personal information.