A Bronx, NY man was arrested this week after a lengthy investigation in which he is accused of scamming a Connecticut couple in their 70’s out of $12,500.
Jose Perezclark, 39, was charged with Larceny 2 and Telephone Fraud 2. His bond was set at $100,000, which he was able to post. He has a date in court in New London on Aug 16, 2023.
CT State Police say back in January Perezclark and his associates claimed on the phone to be court officials, and used a ruse that the elderly couple’s daughter had been arrested and needed cash for bond, following a fatal motor vehicle accident in which she was at fault.
According to the arrest warrant application, the victims received a telephone call from someone claiming to be a representative from the public defender’s office. Using the correct first and last name of one of the victims’ relatives, the caller said the relative was being held in custody at a location over an hour away from the victims’ residence, after allegedly being involved in a motor vehicle accident. The individual advised the victims that they must provide bond money that same day in order to have the relative released from custody. Over the course of additional calls, a plan was made to have the victims deliver the bond money through a courier service that the scammers arranged for.
Also, according to the arrest warrant application, the victims retrieved $12,500 in cash, all in 100 dollar bills from a safe inside their house, and were told by the scammers to not discuss the matter with anyone, in the interest of safety. They put the money into a manila envelope and put that inside a cardboard box. They packaged it up with crumpled newspaper and magazines and taped up the box with black duct tape and wrote their daughter’s name on the outside.
A short time later, a courier arrived at the victims’ residence, took the bond money from the victims, and departed from the area.
But while the driver was in the victim’s driveway, the victim used his cell phone to capture a photo of the vehicle, a Toyota Camry, and its license plate.
Approximately 30 minutes later, the relative who the scammers had claimed was being held in custody arrived at the victims’ residence. Realizing that they had been scammed, the victims immediately called State Police.
Shortly after the arrival of the State Police the victims received another call. This time someone calling herself Sarah said the alleged woman in the car accident had miscarried her baby, but was willing to settle out of court if the victims provided an additional $20,000. Troopers advised the victims to play along. The caller arranged to send a courier pick up the $20,000 and the victims packed a cardboard box with papers, taped it up and wrote their daughter’s name on it.
When the courier arrived State Police pulled in behind his car. When they learned it was a real Uber driver who had been hired to transport a package, they arranged to follow the Uber driver to the drop-off location in Bridgeport where Perezclark was waiting.
After saying he knew nothing of the incident, acting suspiciously and saying his car was down the road when it was actually a few feet away, Perezclark was arrested and charged with Interfering with a Police Investigation and Attempted Larceny. A search and seizure warrant for his car was applied for and granted out of New London Superior Court.
The first Uber driver identified Perezclark from the delivery of the box with $12,500.
Police obtained a search and seizure warrant for Perezclark’s car which revealed the manila envelope with the money from earlier.
From there State Police got an arrest warrant for Perezclark, who was arrested on August 2.
The money was retrieved and State Police say it will be returned to the victims in the near future.
Beware!
Scams such as these can happen to anyone, but often target senior citizens,
If you receive a phone call from an unfamiliar person who is telling you that a relative is in custody, take steps to contact that relative directly and/or other members of their immediate family who can help you determine if you are being targeted by scammers.
If you have been instructed to not speak with anyone about a transfer of cash or other items of monetary value, consider it to be a warning sign that this may NOT be a legitimate, legal request.
Never give out your banking information, credit card numbers, your social security number, medical insurance information, or other personal identifying information without first confirming that the request is legitimate. This can be done by making a direct call to the official telephone number of the banking institution, medical provider or government agency to confirm that they are the true source of the request.
Legitimate government agencies will not request that fees, fines or bail bonds be paid with gift cards, cryptocurrency (e.g. Bitcoin), through an ATM machine, or by wire-transfer.
A loss of thousands of dollars can be devastating for members of our community with limited resources. If you have loved ones at risk of being targeted, please emphasize to them the importance of confirming requests for money or personal information with banks and/or government agencies to reduce the risk of them being victimized by scammers.
Please contact law enforcement as soon as possible if you discover that you have become the victim of a scam.