By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
RIVERVIEW — A man reported April 14 that he was tricked by a con artist purporting to be from his credit union into surrendering his debit and credit cards because there was fraudulent activity detected on his account.
The victim, who received a call on April 12, was directed to go to his nearest credit union branch, which was on Fort Street, and to surrender his cards in a drop box.
He pushed his debit card between the locked doors into the vestibule area. The caller then told him to place his credit union Mastercard under a trash can near the entrance.
When the man returned to the branch the next day, he discovered that both cards were gone. He then received a call from the credit union indicating that there was fraudulent activity occurring on his account. He said he did not authorize any transactions, and the transactions were flagged and declined, and his cards were cancelled.
The victim said an old brown or gray minivan pulled into the credit union parking lot while he was there, but no one exited the vehicle when he was in the area.
The man was also denied a $500 cash transfer request to Zelle, a mobile banking app, that was likely instigated by the fraudster.