Watch Out For These Scams Targeting Westlake Residents

WESTLAKE, OH — A trio of new scams have been targeting Westlake residents, police said. The schemes are detailed below — hopefully providing enough information to prevent anyone else from becoming a victim of the ploys.

The first scam is the so-called "Mystery Shopper" fraud. On September 29, a resident got an unsolicited email offering to pay her to become a secret shopper. She was to go out and quietly evaluate local companies. The victim was sent a check to deposit in her account. Using those funds, she was to buy gift cards from the various stores. She would then send the activation codes on the cards to her "employer."

The woman bought several gift cards before her bank called her and said the initial check had been fraudulent. Police said the company that "hired" the woman was called See Level Human Experience.

The second scam is a Craigslist fraud. A resident posted a bike for sale on the Craigslist website. A prospective buyer from California offered to buy the bike on October 2, but sent the resident a check for well over the asking price. There were detailed instructions on how to handle the check, and with whom, before it was deposited.

The resident was supposed to return any money to the buyer that was not used to buy the bike and pay for shipping. The buyer also offered to send a "moving team" to pick-up the bike.

Luckily, the resident did not deposit the check or send money to the buyer. Instead, they alerted police.

A third resident was not lucky. They were the victim of an IRS scam.

On October 3, the resident got a voicemail on her phone saying she owed money to the IRS. The caller said charges would be brought against her if she did not return the phone call and work out the issue. The resident called the person supposedly representing the IRS.

Several different people spoke with the resident over the span of two hours. They told the resident she owed $5,000 and an arrest warrant would be issued for her if she did not pay immediately. The "IRS" even asked the woman who would take care of her children if she was in jail for this tax debt.

The resident was sufficiently frightened and went out and bought several gift cards, reading the access codes to the "IRS." By the time the resident checked the story she had been given, the gift cards had been drained of all money, police said.

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