CASE CLOSED - Arrest Made in $180,000 Scam Incident

This episode is courtesy of The Mark Arum Show and 95.5 WSB Atlanta's News & Talk.

Perry Police Department Detective Sergeant Ike Wilcox talks with Mark Arum to discuss the arrest made in an attempted theft of more than $180,000 from an elderly Perry couple.

Sergeant Wilcox discusses the details of the case and how to protect yourself and your loved ones from becoming a victim.

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Transcript

Mark Arum: 0:00

This next story warms my heart. It hits close to home. One of my best friend's moms got scammed online and lost virtually her life savings. A similar situation was developing down Perry, Georgia, until a hero stepped in and prevented the scam. Joining us live it's Sergeant JJ Ike Wilcox. Sergeant, welcome to the show. Thanks for your time. My friend.

Sergeant Wilcox: 0:22

Thanks, Mark. I appreciate you having me on.

Mark Arum: 0:24

Uh, this story hit close to home because again, one of my best friend's mom fell for an online scam and something similar was happening to an elderly couple. Uh, for folks that aren't familiar with the story, take us from the beginning. How did this scam start?

Sergeant Wilcox: 0:38

So a couple of weeks ago, I had a. A couple come in. I actually had one of our newer patrolman stick his head in my office. Uh, he, he knows that I do a lot of financial investigations and, uh, scam awareness classes. So he, he stuck his head in and he said, uh, he said, Hey Sarge, uh, I've got a case here. I think you may want to hear about. So, uh, I went out and I met with this couple and they, they proceeded to tell me they, Uh, believe they had been scammed and had, uh, made a purchase of gold bars for nearly 186, 000 dollars..

Mark Arum: 1:13

Wow. This scam started, they were on their computer, right, from the, from the article I read and something popped up on their computer, like a message popped up and said what?

Sergeant Wilcox: 1:23

That's correct. It popped up and it was, uh, appeared to be an advertisement from, uh, Microsoft, uh, like Windows Defender saying that they were infected with a virus. And, uh, one of the main things that scammers do is they, they like to lead you, not let you make your own decisions. So the, the notice that popped up actually provided them with a phone number to call. So, uh, when they called thinking they were receiving help, they were called, they called and were connected to the scammer themselves.

Mark Arum: 1:47

Unbelievable. The exact same thing happened to my friend's mom. Uh, so, so, you know, you know, they, they get this pop up. Oh, you've been infected. I think we'd all freak out if, if our computer was infected. They call this number, uh, what happens next?

Sergeant Wilcox: 2:01

So, um, they tell the, they, I'm sorry, my victims were told, yes, in fact, you do have a virus on your computer. Uh, you know, have you ever used your computer for any home banking? And they say, well, of course, I mean, we all do. Uh, so at that point they wanted to connect them with their bank. Uh, so they were transferred. Uh, to another bank. And I like to say here, too, they, they were. Wise enough not to give their account number. They simply provided the name of the bank. Well, at that point, the scammer led them again and said, let me transfer you to the bank's fraud department. Uh, so they were then connected to another scammer

Mark Arum: 2:37

who was pretending to be that from the bank's fraud department.

Sergeant Wilcox: 2:42

There were multiple fraudulent transactions that had already been intercepted on their account, but there were further, uh, transfers pending that they were not going to be able to stop. And they were about to lose their, essentially their entire retirement savings.

Mark Arum: 2:58

Oh my. So, and, and, I mean, this is very intricate scam process, right? To have not just one scammer, but a second scammer to prevent, to pretend to be the bank at this point, did the victims go, Oh, this, this is legit. This is, this is something we need to worry about.

Sergeant Wilcox: 3:12

Yeah, well, and that's one of the other red flags I'll discuss in a few minutes, but, uh, they, they got, led their victims to be, uh, emotional. They, they put a sense of fear in them and a sense of urgency. Uh, so from that point, and you mentioned the multi layers, uh, this is, was a multi faceted. scam, they, the bank representative, quote unquote, then told them, well, let us connect you with the federal trade commission who may be able to solve. So then it transforms into a, um, government imposter scam for who they were transferred to who they believe was a federal agent at that point.

Mark Arum: 3:49

And, and I mean, this is, this is multi level scamming. What did they ultimately want from this, this couple?

Sergeant Wilcox: 3:57

So, uh, they told them in order to protect their money, it needed to be transferred into something real. Um, you know, a universal currency. So they were led to a legitimate bullion company, uh, precious metals company out of Dallas, Texas called JM Bullion. And, uh, we'll use their name because we found other scams where, where this company is being used. Now, the couple made a legitimate purchase of, The gold bars, uh, for like I said, uh, it was just under 186, 000. Um, so the way the scam was intended to work is once the couple received the gold, these scammers would send a courier who was supposedly an undercover agent of the Federal Trade Commission to their home. They would pick the gold up. Drive it to Washington, D. C., deposit it, and they would reissue a check from the U. S. Treasury to the couple. Essentially, they would regain all of their money. And it would be clean and could not be hacked at that point.. Mark Arum: Wow. So the couple went as far as actually buying almost 200, 000 dollars in gold from this legitimate firm that, that sells gold. Uh, what, what happens next and where do you come into this story? Well, it was at that point that, uh, the couple had a chance to slow down and begin processing the information. Thank you. And that's when they came in and reported it to our agency here. Uh, so at the point that I first met with them, the purchase of gold had been, uh, authorized the, uh, Wire transfer had already gone through. We were unable to stop that. So their money had already left their account. Additionally, I contacted the gold company and attempted to stop the shipment, but it was too late. The gold was already in transit. So through several efforts we were able to actually get the gold shipment rerouted. It was Never received by the victims here, wanted to make that clear, it was successfully returned to J. M. Bullion, and since that time, J. M. Bullion has issued them a full refund, so they have recovered all of their funds.

Mark Arum: 6:16

But at this point, so you, so at this point, you know it's a scam, the couple knows it's a scam, but the scammers don't know that you know. So what do you do to capture these scoundrels?

Sergeant Wilcox: 6:34

Um, before they sent anyone to pick it up, but, uh, even though we had the gold rerouted, uh, with the assistance of the victims who were extremely eager to help, uh, they kept the scammers on the line for a couple of days and, uh, convinced them that the gold was being delivered. Uh, so we set up an undercover sting, uh, sting operation there to try to intercept them.

Mark Arum: 6:57

And what did that look like? The undercover sting? How'd that go down?

Sergeant Wilcox: 7:00

So, it just, uh... As a point of humor, we actually titled it Operation Goldfinger. And, uh, so, uh, I want to give credit to an awesome team that I work with. Uh, when I explained to my fellow detectives and my command staff what was going on, I had a hundred percent, uh, assistance from everybody, everyone on my team. We essentially, I spent the day in the home with the victims, uh, with. A multitude of detectives and officers and both marked and unmarked vehicles in strategic locations in the neighborhood and, uh, the scammers delayed multiple times and I don't believe that was in a, in an effort to kind of throw us off, but, uh, ultimately the courier did show up and when he showed up, uh, to the front of the house, uh, I didn't want there to be any chance of any danger to the victims or anything. We immediately moved in and, uh, Removed the carrier from the vehicle, placed him under arrest.

Mark Arum: 8:03

Unbelievable. We're talking to a Sergeant Wilcox down Perry, Georgia, uh, snuffing out a massive scam perpetrated on an elderly couple. When we come back, Sergeant's going to put a bow on that story and offer advice for anyone listening, how to avoid an awful scam like this. Amazing stuff. Amazing stuff. We'll be right back. It's the Mark Aaron Show on 95. 5 WSB. Continuing our amazing discussion with Sergeant J. J. Ike Wilcox, Perry, Georgia. Thwarting a, uh, massive six figure scam perpetrated, attempted perpetrated against an elderly couple. Sergeant, when we broke, uh, you arrested the suspect outside. What do we know about the suspect? Is this, is this someone from Georgia? Uh, was he from out of town? And, and any other arrests pending perhaps?

Sergeant Wilcox: 8:58

Yeah, so he's actually a resident of Stockton, California.

Mark Arum: 9:01

Ooh.

Sergeant Wilcox: 9:01

And, um, yeah, this... Portion is still under some investigation, but we believe that, uh, he did, in fact, fly directly from California, uh, to Hartsfield and travel down simply for this one pickup.

Mark Arum: 9:15

And, and, uh, have you been able to get any information from, from the suspect to see how wide ranging and how big this scam network is?

Sergeant Wilcox: 9:24

I'll answer that by saying, and I hate to give the generic answer of it's a active investigation, but it is, but this is a, uh, Let's say a multi agency investigation at this point, uh, there are other leads, uh, being pursued.

Mark Arum: 9:38

That's fantastic. And, and I wish that my friend's mom had contacted you when it started with her because she, she got taken for everything and they really, you know, she contacted the FBI and, and once that money leaves the account, there's really not much the authorities can do.

Sergeant Wilcox: 9:55

That's correct. And, you know, I mentioned that the victims were convinced to make the purchase of gold on their own. Well, there's nothing illegal about spending your own money in whichever way you choose. And, you know, unfortunately, um, in cases like this and most scams, the scammers will want you to do that because they know that there's no recourse for the victim. If they willingly withdrew their own funds, then the banks a lot of times refer to them as a willing participant and do not give them any kind of refund, especially with a six figure dollar amount.

Mark Arum: 10:24

Unbelievable. So you mentioned earlier, Sergeant, that you actually teach scam classes. Who are you teaching and, and what's the course like?

Sergeant Wilcox: 10:32

Anyone I can get into, uh, uh, uh, mainly we're in the Bible belt. We have churches that, uh, You know, have great groups that meet on a regular basis. So, uh, church groups, civic groups, uh, civic clubs, um, even law enforcement organizations, uh, intelligence groups, and, um, versus teaching every type of scam, that would be impossible there. Like I said, with this one, it's, it's multi layered. Um, And if I were to try to teach you every scam that's out there, by the time we finished our conversation, there would be ten more. So instead, there are four major rules that were, or red flags, warning signs, that were published by the Federal Trade Commission, which I have found to be applicable in every scam. And that is one, they pretend to be from an organization you know. We've all gotten an email that says it's from, uh, Amazon or, or Best Buy or somewhere, uh, saying you've won something. Um. So don't assume legitimacy, be suspicious of anyone that you deal with. The Social Security Administration is not going to call you. That's not how they do business. But we believe when we hear, you know, a phone call from an agency like that, because we're familiar with them, we automatically assume that they're legitimate. So be suspicious. Uh, two, they say that there's either a problem or a prize. And that's what I mentioned earlier. They try to invoke emotion. They want to get you fearful. Uh, they want to get you excited because that way we move faster. Uh, care along with that, they pressure you to act immediately. Like I said, with my victims, it wasn't until they had a chance to stop and slow down a minute that they started thinking a little more rationally, realized there was an issue and came to us. And, uh, for they tell you pay in a specific way. And this is mainly what we see here, gift cards. Um, Legitimate business does not operate off of gift cards, but you know in the case of this gold scam They wanted them to purchase gold because once they had that gold it couldn't be traced anymore and it's universally accepted.

Mark Arum: 12:31

That's the first time. I mean we've covered a lot of scams on the show here and on the station That's the first time i've ever heard the the purchase of gold to basically launder the money, right? There's no way to to trace the gold that that's remarkable.

Sergeant Wilcox: 12:44

Correct. They do have, uh, the bars usually are serialized. Uh, however, you know, gold is a soft material and, uh, it'd be very simple and quick to remove those serial numbers.

Mark Arum: 12:54

Wow. Uh, I'm just amazed and, and kudos to you and, and your whole team sergeant, because, um, you know, from the, the, uh, research I did that, that was, that was basically the life savings of this couple that was in jeopardy.

. Sergeant Wilcox: 13:06

Correct. And, uh, I'd like to emphasize, um. How incredibly rare it is for us 1 to be able to stop a scam that's in progress, but to be able to recover the funds that are lost. Um, and we, we have a say in here with the City of Perry is, is this is another Perry proud moment. Uh, and like I said, I'm, I'm not crediting in myself with this, uh, it's going on with my own team, but it also, I want to credit my victims on this because they had the wherewithal to realize there was an issue and come to us. and it was just in the nick of time.

Mark Arum: 13:39

Yeah, no doubt. Well, um, Sergeant, uh, you're the pride of Perry right now. I know there are a lot of law enforcement folks in the Metro Atlanta area that are going to be ringing your phone being like, Hey, you ever think about moving to Atlanta and leading our task force?

Sergeant Wilcox: 13:53

Uh, I moved, lived in, uh. Athens, uh, graduated from university of Georgia. That's as close to Atlanta I want to be but go dogs.

Mark Arum: 13:59

This is their home of the national champion, Georgia Bulldogs, by the way, WSB radio. Yeah. Um, Oh, sergeant, I, man, I can't thank you enough for your time, for sharing your information and most importantly, helping that couple that, that almost lost almost 200, 000 dollars of their life savings. Great work to you and your team, my friend.

Sergeant Wilcox: 14:18

Thank you so much. Appreciate you having me on and helping us, uh, raise awareness.

Mark Arum: 14:22

There you go. Damn good dog. Sergeant J. J. Ike Wilcox, Perry, Georgia. If we can ever, uh, help spread the word on any other scams that you pick up, just, uh, just shoot me an email, brother, and we'll get you back on.

Sergeant Wilcox: 14:32

I'll do it. Thank you so much.

Mark Arum: 14:33

There you go. That you, those stories don't end like that. Usually they don't end like that. What a, what an amazing, I mean, to, to that, that's a big criminal enterprise. That's like mafia level criminal enterprise. To be able to get in on the computer, have the people call you and they go, Oh, I'm going to transfer you to the bank, pretended to be the bank. And then, Oh, we're going to transfer you to, uh, the federal trade commission. And then there's another scammer. I hope they get that, uh, that scoundrel to flip and bust up that operation. Great stuff there from Sergeant Wilcox. Uh, I think we all learned something there. Beware. Could be you, your parents, your grandparents, your kids might fall victim to an online scam. Uh, a good warning story there with a great ending. Usually don't get endings like that.