Fake FBI Agent Scams Western Springs Businessman: Cops

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – A Western Springs businessman gave nearly $16,500 in cash to a woman posing as an FBI agent who promised to keep it safe from fraud, local police said.

Patch obtained the police report through a public records request.

On Jan. 10, the man, who lives in Willowbrook, applied for a Southwest Airlines credit card, later receiving an email confirming he was successful.

That night, a man purportedly from Capital One, a credit card company, told the victim that multiple charges were found on his account in Miami, according to the report. The victim was on the phone for several hours.

Charges totaling more than $5,000 were made at Walmart and Target, but the charges would be reversed and investigated, the man was told.

The next day, the victim noticed $2,600 was taken out of his BMO bank account.

The man then received a call from someone claiming to be from the FBI's fraud division, who was assigned to investigate the businessman's case. The person promised that the FBI would hold the money in a secure account until the fraud stopped, police said.

He remained on a FaceTime call with whom the police called "subjects," who were not described.

The man was told to withdraw $16,480 in cash from his account at Chase Bank in La Grange, police said.

During the morning of Jan. 12, he met with a woman who posed as an FBI agent in a parking lot near his business in the 1100 block of Hillgrove Avenue, police said.

The woman was described as Hispanic, about 40 and wearing a black coat. She was said to be driving a black SUV, possibly an older model black Escalade.

The businessman handed her the money and was promised that she would stop the fraud and put the money back into his account, according to the report.

She then drove north on Central Avenue. Meanwhile, the businessman remained on the FaceTime call with the suspects for another four hours, hoping to get an update.

Western Springs police sent a message to surrounding agencies to check their license plate readers for a black Escalade or SUV during the time in question.