2 Darien Residents Report Being Victims Of Identity Theft: Police

DARIEN, CT — A pair of Darien residents had thousands of dollars in cash and merchandise stolen by identity thieves over the past several weeks, according to local police.

In the first case, involving a 39-year-old resident, $2,200 was fraudulently withdrawn from her Webster Bank account in late April, after she was informed by the bank she had a zero balance.

"She discovered that two withdrawals had been made against her account on April 26th , 2017 ($1200.00 and $1000.00)," wrote police in a statement. "The withdrawals were to 'SQL* Bruton' via the online application 'Square Cash.' It appears that the charges were made in California and the bank is currently investigating. The victim is not an active user of “Square Cash” but has been in the past. There is no evidence of local criminal activity."

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In the second case, a 44-year-old resident discovered that nine fraudulent charges were made on her Macy's charge account in March and April.

"On April 1, 2017, the victim received an email from Macys.com concerning her credit card account," according to Darien police. "The same day, a delivery from Macy’s arrived which consisted of a black men’s Under Armor brand coat that she had not ordered. Further investigation on the part of the victim showed that this coat, along with four other apparel items, had been ordered online on 3.27.2017. The victim returned the coat to a local Macy’s and the company canceled the other four items. The victim therefore suffered no monetary loss. Macy’s issued the victim a new card with a new number; the victim then discovered that four additional fraudulent charges were made on the new account number on 04.26.2017. These charges were for four items of footwear."

The woman notified the Macy’s Fraud Department of the new batch of fraudulent orders, and the store is currently investigating.

"The victim was in physical possession of her Macy’s card(s) and there is currently no evidence of local criminal activity," wrote police.

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