Crime Report: Elaborate fraud scheme under investigation as suspected elder abuse case

Aug. 10

Burglary, vehicle, and theft by access card: 5500 block of Godbey Drive. A woman reported that she parked her car in a lot at La Cañada Flintridge Country Club at about 2:30 p.m. She and her husband got out of the car and locked it remotely with the key fob.

At approximately 3:05 p.m., the clubhouse manager advised her that someone had shattered the rear window on the driver’s side of her car. She went to the vehicle and could see that her purse, which she’d left on the floorboard of the rear passenger area, was gone. In it had been her wallet with driver’s license, a Nordstrom debit and credit card, an American Express card, a Target credit and debit card, a Bank of America debit card, a makeup bag and her two daughters’ U.S. passports.

She reported that she received text messages from American Express and Bank of America alerting her that her cards were being used at different locations and seeking verification. She placed holds on all her bank accounts and said she would be placing a fraud alert on her name.

Theft by false pretense: 1400 block of Descanso Drive. A man reported that in March a man with an Indian accent called him on his cellphone, said he worked for Microsoft and that they’d noticed the victim had Internet problems. The caller told the victim that in order to fix the issues, he needed to pay them an amount not specified in the police report.

The victim said he provided the caller with credit card information and was immediately billed for the transaction. Then, this month, a male with an Indian accent, also claiming to work for Microsoft, called the victim’s cellphone and told him he was due to receive a refund because Microsoft servers were shutting down. The victim reported that the caller somehow started controlling the victim’s computer remotely and placed an amount not specified in the crime report into the victim’s Wells Fargo checking account.

He then instructed the victim to go to his bank, withdraw funds from it, and place a specified amount onto several iTunes gift cards. The victim stated he purchased a total of seven iTunes gift cards through PayPal. The victim was further instructed to read the serial numbers off each gift card to the man with the Indian accent.

Later, the victim received a call from an unknown man who stated he worked for PayPal and that they’d noticed the purchase of numerous gift cards for high amounts and that this might be a scam if he was sending them to someone else. He was further advised that they would try to reject the money transfer involved.

The victim received another phone call, this time from the man with the Indian accent, seeking another exchange. It is unclear from the crime report what the outcome of that conversation was. But the victim told the deputy taking the report that his account at Wells Fargo had been closed and a new one opened.

The incidents generated a suspected elder abuse report. The deputy contacted the Pasadena office of Adult Protective Services and was told a social worker was assigned to the case for follow-up.

Aug. 12

Burglary, residential: 4000 block of Dover Road. A woman reported that she and her daughter left their home at 1:45 p.m. When they returned about two hours later, they entered through the front door and noticed that a hallway door that is always kept closed was open. The woman then walked into the family room and saw that a rear glass door was shattered. She yelled at her daughter to get out of the house. They both went out to the street and called for assistance.

Two deputies arrived and swept the area, but no suspects were found. The home office and bedrooms had been rummaged through and the master bedroom closet was ransacked. Immediately identified as missing were some Olympic pennants, an unknown quantity of costume jewelry and an unknown amount of collectible coins.

Burglary, residential: 700 block of Flintridge Avenue. A woman reported that when she left her home at about 10:30 a.m., she left a rear sliding glass door open so her two dogs could go in and out. When she returned at about 3:55 p.m., she noticed a gate was open at the property that she had left closed. She entered her backyard through the gate. She observed that the sliding glass door was still open and, through the window, she could see her dogs sitting in the living room. She could also see from outside that the master bedroom door, which she had left open, was shut.

She then walked around her property and peered into the master bedroom from a window and could see it had been ransacked. She entered the bedroom through an unlocked exterior door that is usually kept locked with a deadbolt.

A pillowcase was gone from her bed and she could see that the contents of two drawers of her vanity had been stolen. Gone were a 20-inch Mikimoto pearl necklace that’s about 90 years old and a 16- to 18-inch pearl necklace that’s about 40 years old. Also missing were various pieces of gold jewelry. After taking her report, a deputy learned that the Glendale Police Department had arrested three male black suspects who had been in a red SUV, on suspicion of a residential burglary that occurred nearby at about 1 p.m., in the 3500 block of East Chevy Chase Drive.

Aug. 13

Identity theft. 4000 block of Alta Vista Drive. A woman reported that, beginning on June 16 and continuing into early August, she and her husband had both received multiple notices of someone trying to open credit card accounts using their names — and, in some cases, making purchases on the fraudulent accounts. Both victims contacted the three major credit reporting agencies and placed a 90-day fraud alert on their accounts. The couple have changed their mailbox and now have a locked door on it.

Grand theft from vehicle: 5400 block of Ocean View Boulevard. A man reported that two rear passenger seats had been taken from his 2007 Cadillac Escalade SLT. He said he left town to go on a business trip on Aug. 11. At 12:36 a.m. on Aug. 12, he received a text alert from his surveillance system alerting him that a camera mounted at his garage door had been disconnected. He didn’t think anything of it at the time. On Aug. 13, back in town, he and his family went to the L.A. Zoo. When he went to the rear of the SUV to pull out his daughter’s stroller, he could see that the two seats were missing. He asked his wife about it and, although she had driven the SUV on Aug. 12, she didn’t notice at the time that the seats were gone. He reviewed his surveillance system and it showed that an unseen person disconnected the camera to the garage at 12:36 a.m. Aug. 12 and it was reconnected at 1:15 a.m. the same day.

Aug. 14

Grand theft from vehicle: 4000 block of Dover Road. A male reported that he arrived at the address at about 9 p.m. to hang out with friends. He parked his car at the curb. When he returned to it at 11:30 p.m., he realized someone had taken his black, Nike dual-strap backpack containing an Apple MacPro 13-inch silver laptop.