BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Bloomfield Township woman was scammed out of $21,000 when someone pretending to be from the police department called and threatened that she would be guilty of committing a crime if she didn’t pay.
Officers were called around 10 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 7) by a woman who said she had been swindled out of $21,000, they said.
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The woman told police she had received a call from a man claiming to be a U.S. Border Patrol agent. He said her identity had been used to fraudulently open a bank account that was linked to crimes, according to authorities.
The scammer told the woman that in order to remedy the situation, she would have to withdraw $21,000 and deposit it into a cryptocurrency ATM at a gas station in Troy, officials said.
Before hanging up, the caller asked the woman for the nearest police department to her house, she said. The woman also gave the scammer her name and address, according to police.
Minutes after that call, the woman received another call from a number listed as “Bloomfield Township Police” on the telephone’s caller ID, she said.
The man identified himself as “Chief Phillip Langmeyer” and told her that if she didn’t follow the instructions of the first caller, she would be “guilty of a crime,” according to authorities.
Police said the woman withdrew $21,000 and deposited it into the ATM, as instructed.
Bloomfield Township police said law enforcement will never instruct residents to pay or help in an investigation by withdrawing money and depositing it into an ATM.
Residents should not provide personal information over the phone to people they don’t know, authorities said.
Anyone with information about this scam is asked to call the Bloomfield Township Police Department at 248-433-7755.