Resident scammed out of $148,000

Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 14 November 2023 14 November 2023

[Editor's Note: This is so sad. Beware of scams. I get these same scams all the time, and I simply delete them, because I know I have never ordered the items. Whether or not you have a PayPal account, do NOT fall for these. The scammers know who is old and they love to prey on them! If you are a senior or a young one, and you do not recognize the email sender do not ever, ever call a number in an email that you don't recognize and do NOT EVER click on any blue links. If I receive one that I am not sure about, I check out the address it is sent from. And if it looks suspicious, I choose to do a search outside of the email and input the URL myself. If you are not savvy enough to input a URL, do NOT ever click on an unknown link or call an unknown number!! ]

By Roger Lanse

On Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, Silver City Police Department officers were called to the Silver Cliff Apartments, 1414 Little Walnut Road, at approximately 12:04 p.m., in reference to a fraud complaint. When officers arrived, the 77-year-old female victim said she had been scammed by a fake PayPal representative over the telephone.

According to an SCPD incident report, the victim stated she was informed on Oct. 20, 2023, of a fraudulent charge on her PayPal account of $457.00. When she found a phone number for PayPal she made contact with two males, who advised her to go to her bank, withdraw $15,000, and send the money to a female named Angela Sharpea in Brooklyn, NY by Moneygram. The victim further stated, after sending the initial payment she was told by a male "to pack a bag and head to Las Cruces for further instructions."

The victim told officers, according to the report, while in Las Cruces, she spoke to a male named Jason or Justin, who advised her he would help with securing her money. The victim advised she kept sending money to PayPal for two weeks. The victim stated she became upset and found the real phone number for PayPal and was told by a PayPal associate she was being scammed and to contact her bank.

Contacting her bank, Wells Fargo, she was told to contact police, which she did. The victim told the officers she was scammed for a total of $148,000. The victim provided officers a list of phone numbers that were used by the scammers.

No further information.

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