Residents Report Three Frauds In Two Days

Last week, several residents of North Kingstown were the victims of a string of fraudulent activities in the area. 

A resident reported the the first incident on July 12, after he believed fraudulent transactions had taken place on his credit card. He told police he had received a phone call from Chase Bank regarding suspicious activity on his Visa credit card account. He was told that two Western Union money transfers had been charged to his Visa. One transaction, for $503, took place on July 10 and the other, for $391, took place on a unknown date. Chase was unable to provide the victim with further details but told him the fraud department would be contacting Western Union regarding the situation.

According to the victim, Western Union would not provide any information to Chase regarding the matter and the inquiry would have to be done by a law enforcement agency. After speaking with a representative from Western Union, an officer faxed a fraud request to Chase Bank. An investigation is underway. 

The second incident, which also occurred on July 12, involved the victim receiving a three-page letter from a loan company out of Texas stating that there was pending fraud investigation for a $375 loan taken out in his name. The letter also stated that if the victim did not pay the $375 within the three days of receiving the letter, he would be charged a total of $1,125, which includes the original loan as well as penalties, interest and attorney fees.

The victim told police he had contacted the loan company to tell them that he had never taken out a loan from them and the company told him that the loan had been applied for and approved over the Internet. According to reports, the victim does not own a computer. He told police the company told him to file a police report and fax a copy of the report along with his bank statement to their office as soon as possible. 

The third incident was reported on July 13, after a resident reported there had been fraudulent activity on his credit card. He told police that earlier that same day, the fraud department from his bank contacted him and inquired about four attempted withdrawals made that morning. After he told bank representative he did not make the purchases, they advised him that someone used his account and debit card number to make four purchases from eligetuvino.com. The bank did not authorize the transactions and no money was withdrawn from the account. The victim was advised that a 10-day hold would be placed on his funds. His debit card was cancelled and he was issued a new one.