PARK RIDGE, N.J.—An Oak Avenue resident, 62, reported on the morning of Oct. 7, that he fell victim to a scam.
The victim said he had been communicating with an “Elina Maggio” via email for approximately three years and has sent her money in the past.
On Sept. 27, he received checks in the mail that appeared to be from Wells Fargo Bank in his name even though he does not have an account there. These were found to be fraudulent.
He was then contacted by an “Anthony Brown” who was described as the accountant for Maggio’s “inheritance.” Brown explained to the victim that Maggio was in jail in Panama because she “took the wrong luggage, which contained narcotics, at the airport” and he needed his help.
The victim was told to write a check out to himself using a Wells Fargo check for $9,000. After depositing the check into his Key Bank account, (which was not immediately flagged by Key Bank) he was told to wire $7,000 of this to bail Maggio out of jail.
The transfer took place on Sept. 30, with the funds sent to Temitope Oyebade, Santander Bank.
The victim received a phone call from Key Bank on Oct. 7 advising him the check bounced and his account has been frozen due to the fraud.
Key Bank was made aware of the situation and requested the incident be reported to police.
Copies of the wire transfer form and the fraudulent check were made and forwarded to the Detective Bureau. The matter is filed under fraud/ID theft.