Authorities arrested two women and seized $900,000 worth of items in a nationwide scam where the suspects allegedly posed as Internal Revenue Service (IRS) workers.
Ailing Lu, 25, of Los Angeles, and Ji Hyun Lee, 25, of Gardena, California, were arrested on fraud charges in connection with a scam where suspects posed as IRS workers and threatened to arrest their victims if they did not pay the caller a set amount in gift cards.
The investigation into the nationwide scam began on September 4 after a victim reported a phone call from a scammer threatening to arrest him if he did not pay $2,200 in Target gift cards, according to the Fontana, California, police department.
The victim bought the gift cards, gave them to the scammer, and reported the incident to the police.
Detectives, using surveillance technology, tracked down the items purchased with the gift cards in Los Angeles, California, and Indiana. When police conducted search warrants on both locations, they discovered $900,000 in electronics — ranging from iPads to smart watches — as well as other gift cards and items purchased with Target gift cards.
“It’s apparent these suspects were well organized and preyed on the victims’ fear of arrest across our nation,” the Fontana Police Department wrote in a post on Facebook.
The Fontana Police Department added that the public should call their local law enforcement agencies if they received a similar phone call and bought a gift card through the scammer.
“As a reminder, no law enforcement or public agency will ever ask you to pay in gift cards,” the Fontana Police Department said. “We encourage the public to be wary of any ‘cold call.’ They should scrutinize the information given to them. Conduct their own research to find a legitimate contact for the organization the person is claiming to work for and verify it’s not a scam.”
The investigation is ongoing, and more people are expected to be involved in the scam.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.