Scammers Target Riverside Police Chief With Check Scheme

RIVERSIDE, IL — Check scammers recently tried to scam Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel by sending a check for nearly $2,000. Weitzel said he received a U.S. postage Priority Mail Express packet, which was sent from a person listed on the shipping label as Gary Johnson from Reliance Capital Limited in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Police said the package contained a Cashier’s check from First Fidelity Bank out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, made out personally to Tom Weitzel in the exact amount of $1,720.77.

The chief said he found it very unusual that anyone would send a personal check to the Riverside Police Department and that they made the check payable for a very specific amount to him. Additionally, the remitter on the cashier's check differed from the name listed on the outer postage label.

Chief Weitzel said he was not expecting a check, nor did he have any investments or any information on the remitter. He could not obtain any information on this check or the sender so he turned it over to his detectives for investigation.

Police said it was learned that while there is a Reliance Capital Limited, there is no Reliance Capital Limited in Boynton Beach, Florida and the return address listed, 124 East Ocean Ave., does not exist for Reliance Capital.

It was found that this was a check scam in which the scammers wanted the receiver of the check, in this case Chief Weitzel, to deposit it into his bank account so that they could either get him to wire money directly to them or, after depositing the cashier's check into his account, to get his routing numbers for his bank and clean out his accounts.

“If these scammers can target Riverside Police and the chief himself, just imagine what can be done to the average citizen or elderly residents," Weitzel said in a release. "If you’re not expecting money or someone’s sending you money or checks for no reason that you know, it’s absolutely a scam. Do not deposit these cashier's checks into your account so that these fraudsters can get your banking information."

Weitzel added he was fortunate because his detectives were able to check into the scam.

"Always check with your bank officials before depositing a check you were not expecting to receive.”

Photo provided by Riverside Police Department.