Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Metro: Scammers promised prize delivery, pretended to be cops

Metro letter

courtesy of metro police

Police on Tuesday released a scanned image of a letter that was used by a group of fraudsters pretending to be Metro Police officials.

Metro Police have issued a warning about a pair of scam artists who pretended to be cops to swindle money from a woman who believed she had won the lottery.

The scammers reportedly contacted the woman in late October and told her that she won a new luxury car and a large sum of money. They reportedly told her that she needed to pay a small fee to “keep the prize delivery going,” Metro Police said.

They allegedly stayed in touch with the victim for about 10 days, requesting more money. Eventually the swindlers told the victim that her prizes were being delivered to her by a man called John Green, but then Metro Police pulled him over at a routine checkpoint while he was driving to her home.

The victim later received a call from two people pretending to be police officers who told her that “Mr. Green” did not have a permit for the contents inside his car, but she could have the items if she paid a permit fee.

When she asked for a written report of the incident, they sent her a letter bearing the Metro Police logo and told her that she would have to pay a $100 “letter fee” for the document.

She called the real police department on Nov. 4 to report the incident.

Police released a copy of the letter in order to warn others about the scam. Officials urged people to be wary of suspicious calls, emails or personal visits, especially any which mention promises of cash. Do not send personal information or money to strangers, officials said.

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