In one 30-day period, 15 cases of theft by deception, fraud and/or identity theft were reported to the North Royalton Police Department. It is not unusual to get several reports in one day, according to North Royalton Police Detective, David Loeding. Many think that older individuals are mainly the victims of these types of crimes, but that is not necessarily true. “Fraud knows no age,” said Loeding.
Last month, a resident received a call from a male who claimed to be a senior investigator with the Drug Enforcement Agency and Department of Justice. The resident reported that the male gave her his federal ID number and his address in Washington D.C. He told her that someone used her social security number in Texas for the purpose of money laundering and using drugs and that the incident was reported to the social security office. He then told her that she needed to make payments in order to resolve the issue, with a total of $3,000 in Target gift cards.
Also last month, a resident received a call stating that his grandson was in a Connecticut jail and it would cost $15,000 to bail him out. He requested two payments of $7,600 and another $9,000 to fix his grandson’s truck, which was impounded. The cash was mailed in three packages. The resident then received another call asking for an additional $6,000 for court costs. When he went to the bank, the teller alerted him that he was the victim of potential fraud. He then contacted his grandson, who informed him that he was not in jail and to call the police.
The following are just a few of the reports that have come into the North Royalton Police Department over the last few months.
In March, a resident received an unsolicited call from a male stating that he was from Amazon and that somebody had tried to use her account. He gave her a code and told her to call the FBI, which she did, but could not reach anyone to speak to. Several weeks later, she discovered an $800 charge that she did not make. In addition, there were three Zelle transactions totaling more than $1,225. A week later, the male called again and instructed her to purchase several gift cards and take pictures of the backs of them and send them to him. Her bank Branch Manager intervened, recognizing the fraud. She said the male was trying to get the resident to create a new account and online user ID and password and pass it on to him. Unfortunately, the resident’s bank account was mostly emptied and she suffered a loss of over $2,800.
In April, a resident received a text and went to an internet site where he was advised that the Twix Company would pay him $500 a week to put advertising decals on his vehicle. He agreed and received a package and a check for $2,550 made out to him to pay the installer. He was to keep $500, with another $50 for gas and to pay the installer the remaining amount. Upon confirmation, he was told to deposit the check. He then was requested to send the money via money orders and FedEx them. After he completed that, he was notified by his bank that the check bounced.
In May, a resident had sent a total of $6,000 to scammers who, he believed, were members of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office. He was contacted by the person on his cell phone and was scared into going to different stores to get forms of payment to prevent a warrant being issued for his arrest.
In June a resident reported that she received an email from PayPal advising her a charge for $449 was going through to her account. She stated that she did have a PayPal account and she did NOT authorize this charge. She called the phone number listed on the bottom of the email and talked to a male who she assumed was a support specialist. He said that it looked like a fraudulent transaction and requested her computer information and remote access into her computer. She provided him with her login information and driver’s license information. He explained to her that he was accessing records to cancel the PayPal transaction and advised her not to access any accounts for a while so he could wipe the transaction from her computer. She then began to receive alerts on her phone from her credit card company and her bank that fraud was occurring. She was able to shut the accounts down, but not before a $500+ transfer went through.
In July, a resident received a call from a male stating that he was from a government agency and that someone had used his identity, bank account and credit cards to send money to Afghanistan. He said that it had caused legal problems and in order to save himself, he needed to first withdraw money from his bank. He was then instructed to purchase $2,000 in Target Gift Cards from CVS and $3,000 in Target Gift cards from Giant Eagle. He was then instructed to read the numbers on the cards to the caller.
In July, a resident, using the Offer Up website, tried to purchase a refrigerator. She chatted with the owner and they agreed to a price of $500. She agreed to pay $250 up front and the rest when it was delivered. She sent the money via Zelle, but the refrigerator was never delivered. She was unable to make contact with the seller again.
In July, a resident tried to purchase a cat online through the website, Gorgeousmainecoonkittenshome.com for $500. Through a series of texts with the person, who appeared to speak broken English, he agreed to purchase a $500 American Express Gift Card after attempts through PayPal failed. The resident sent photos of the gift card, as well as the receipt. The cat was never received.
In August, a resident received a call from people posing as Ohio Edison employees who advised him that he was past due on a bill. The resident told them that he had just paid his bill, but the male told him that there was a possibility that the meter might be broken or tampered with. He said that a technician would respond and was told to pay the bill and if the technician reported an issue with the meter, he would be reimbursed. He was given a review/reimbursement ticket number and was told to go to a store and purchase MoneyPak gift cards totaling over $998 and read off the serial numbers of the cards.
In August, a resident and his son reported that the son was messaging a female on a social media app called HILLY. After a while, they exchanged phone numbers. She sent him several nude photos. After receiving the photos, she was asked her age, to which she replied “17”. The son was then contacted by a male claiming to be her father. He stated he was upset that he was talking to her and, because he received pictures of an under-aged girl, he would be in trouble with the police. He told him that if he sent him $1,000, he would not report the incident. The son made five, $200 payments via Cash App. He later requested another $2,000. At that time, the son contacted his father, who instructed him to go to the police.
Some scams claim to cut off utilities for unpaid bills or claim some sort of legal notice. Although gift cards are often asked for, Bitcoin ATM transactions and debit cards are also requested. Loeding stresses, “AT NO POINT WOULD ANYONE LEGITIMATELY ASK YOU TO GO TO THE BANK TO MAKE A WITHDRAWAL OR GO TO THE STORE AND BUY GIFT CARDS. YOU WOULD NEVER BE CONTACTED, EVER.”
In general, Loeding said that the NRPD has seen an increase since COVID started. “We’ve always lived in a cyber world,” said Loeding. “Now we have less contact with other people, so we have more people sitting in front of laptops. We’re not as mobile, not as active. People are sitting at home and working from home – so is the bad guy. Now he’s more likely to catch people at home.” Loeding also pointed out that crime always go up during the holidays.
Loeding advises residents, “if you think, even in the slightest, that something isn’t right, don’t do anything they tell you to do. Take down the name, phone numbers and call the police department.”
The phone number of the North Royalton Police Department is 440-582-6216.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer