Crime & Safety
Scam Victim Becomes Suspicious When Man Identifies as 'Mary Jane'
A woman reported the harassing phone calls on Aug. 12.
On Aug. 12, Officer J. Siegel was dispatched to a home on North Road in Snellville after a woman repeatedly got calls from an unknown number.
The day before, she received 44 calls from blocked numbers. When she finally answered, the suspect said that his name was Officer John Dixon from Gwinnett County Police, and that there had been some unusual activity on her credit cards. He told her he needed the last six numbers of her social security number, which she unfortunately provided.
Wisely, the victim called Gwinnett Police as soon as she hung up the phone. They told her there was no officer by that name with their department.
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The next day, she received an additional 40 phone calls from blocked and out of town numbers. The caller left voicemails instructing her to answer the phone because there was a problem with her credit cards. The victim played these messages for Officer Siegel when he arrived.
The caller had a foreign accent and identified as Mary Jane.
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While the officer was at the victim's home, her phone rang again. This time, Officer Siegel answered it.
And who was on the other line, you may be wondering? Mary Jane, the man with the foreign accent.
The victim had been scammed by this type of thing before in 2010 and subsequently lost $23,000. The officer advised her to contact her phone company and find out where the calls were coming from. She was also advised to cancel her credit cards and contact her bank the next morning.
If you suspect you are being scammed or are repeatedly being called by an unknown number, contact Snellville or Gwinnett Police.
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