Phony CEO Asks For Gift Cards Via Email: Northbrook Blotter

NORTHBROOK, IL — The following information comes from the Northbrook Police Department as a record of incidents reported to the police and those arrested on criminal charges, which represent accusations that are often dropped or reduced. Updated information may be available from the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Everyone arrested is presumed to be innocent unless found guilty in court beyond a reasonable doubt.

INCIDENTS

HOME BURGLARIES

• Police were dispatched at 5:39 p.m. on Jan. 3 to the site of an activated residential burglar alarm in the 2000 block of Mallard Drive. Officers found the front door had been left open and someone had rummaged through several rooms. It was not known what, if anything, was stolen at the time of the report.
• A resident in the 600 block of Dunsten Avenue reported at 3:15 p.m. on Jan. 4 that their rear sliding door was left partly open and had been slightly damaged. The resident did not believe anyone managed to get in the home.

IDENTITY THEFT

• A resident in the 1500 Lake Cook Road reported around 6:48 p.m. on Jan. 7 that someone had used their credit card to make unspecified unauthorized purchases.

BUSINESS EMAIL SCAMS

• A representative of a business in the 3000 block of Commercial Avenue reported shortly after 2 p.m. on Jan. 8 that an employee had gotten an email that appeared to have come from the company CEO and asking the employee to buy $1,500 work of iTunes gift cards. The employee followed the instructions from the email but later became suspicious and discovered the email was not actually from their boss.
• An employee in the 2900 block of MacArthur Boulevard reported on the afternoon of Jan. 10 that his human resources supervisor had gotten an email falsely purporting to have come from him and asking for his direct deposits to a new bank account.

ARRESTS

A 43-year-old Chicago man was arrested around 11 p.m. on Jan. 4 in the area of Dundee and Skokie Valley roads and charged with driving with a revoked license after a patrolling officer witnessed him commit a traffic violation. He was also issued a citation for improper lane usage.

A 25-year-old Chicago man was arrested around 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 7 following a traffic stop in the 3300 block of Dundee Road and charged with driving with a suspended license after a patrolling officer noticed a vehicle with an equipment violation. He was also issued a citation for expired registration.

John G. Boyer, 60, of the 7N000 block of Terrace Court, Medinah, was arrested around 3 p.m. on Jan. 8 in the 300 block of Anthony Trail and charged with felony theft in connection with an investigation that began in 2018. Investigators determined Boyer had been writing fraudulent checks to himself and Cook County prosecutors approved a felony charge.

Last week: Northbrook Woman Gets Car Stuck, Catches Felony Charge; Northbrook Police Blotter, Dec. 28 to Jan. 3

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