A Fenton-area man mailed $29,000 to a California address after apparently falling victim to a scam, but police intercepted the cash he sent to the alleged scammer, and the funds are expected to be returned to him, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The victim told investigators he received an email on Oct. 5 telling him $500 had been removed from his bank account to renew his McAfee computer security program subscription. On Oct. 6, the man sent an email telling the company not to renew his subscription and to return his money, the report said.
The man said shortly after he sent the email, he received a phone call from someone who identified himself as “Jack” and said he worked for McAfee. The victim said the alleged scammer told him in order to get the $500 refund, he would first have to approve a $300 deposit into his bank account, according to the report.
The victim agreed, and then the alleged scammer said he accidently deposited $30,000 into the bank account and would need the victim to send $29,000 back in cash to a California address, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
The victim told investigators the alleged scammer told him to withdraw the money from his bank account and send the cash through the mail. The victim said he mailed the cash on Oct. 6, the report said.
The victim told investigators that on Oct. 8, a corporal with the Ontario (Calif.) Police Department called him and said the Post Office flagged the package as suspicious and turned it over to the police. The corporal said he would send the victim the money back in the form of a cashier’s check, according to the report.
The victim also was provided a direct contact number for the corporal and a case number connected to the money, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
As of Oct. 11, the Sheriff’s Office did not know if the man had received his money, and a detective was still investigating the incident to try to identify the alleged scammer, spokesman Grant Bissell said.