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The Stafford Sheriff’s Office is investigating a case in which more than $200,000 was pilfered from a county man, court records state.
According to an affidavit for a search warrant filed by Detective B.A. Talbot in Stafford Circuit Court, the Aquia Harbour Police Department was notified last month about a likely fraud involving a resident in his 70s.
A Navy Federal Credit Union representative called a social services hotline regarding large withdrawals made on the account of one of their clients. The affidavit states that between Feb. 18 and March 10, $201,700 was withdrawn from the account in five withdrawals and wire transfers ranging from $20,000 to $49,000.
Talbot met with the victim at his home in Aquia Harbour and learned that he had received an email claiming that his account had been compromised by 20 hackers. The victim thought the email had come from the financial institution.
The man called the phony credit union representative, who identified himself as “Brian Wilson,” and was told that his funds were going to be transferred to “dummy” accounts while the issue was being investigated. The victim provided bank statements to the phony representative.
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Talbot wrote that he knew the representative was a fraud because bank protocol calls for freezing accounts in question, not transferring money to dummy accounts.
The victim gave the police the phone number, and the affidavit states it originated from a service legitimate financial institutions would not use for official communication.
The search warrant gives police the authority to obtain records associated with the number in the hopes of identifying the scammer’s identity. No arrest had been made as of Friday.
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