Huntington Man Arrested in Telemarketing Scam

A 32-year-old Huntington Beach man was arrested on suspicion of bilking senior citizens in a telemarketing scheme, authorities said Friday.

Investigators received calls last week from several people who said they were told by a representative of U.S. Catalog Exchange in Irvine that they had won from $10,000 to $25,000, Police Sgt. Phil Povey said. To collect the money, the so-called winners were told they must pay a California processing fee, which ranged from $189 to $429, Povey said.

“In some cases, they got nothing in return,” Povey said. “In other cases, they received worthless coupons and certificates. One gift check was for $500 worth of meals, chips, cash, tokens and drinks at ‘several Las Vegas casinos.’ But it never said which ones.”

Nine victims, ages 63 to 84, have contacted investigators, who said there could be hundreds more, based on evidence seized. All but one of the nine live out of state.

Police set up surveillance at two post office boxes in Newport Beach and Irvine and arrested a man who picked up mail at the Irvine box on Wednesday, Povey said. The man had been paid “a few bucks” to pick up the money, Povey said. He was released after he led police to James Alan Winter, who was arrested Thursday on suspicion of grand theft and fraudulent telemarketing sales, Povey said.

Winter, who was being held at Orange County Jail, had been convicted of a similar crime, Povey said.