Captain’s Message:
Tuesday, 8/18/2009
Today, I would like to talk to you about a scam called a Jamaican Switch
or a Pigeon Drop. The criminals play on the victim’s vision of making a
large amount of money in just an hour of time. There are usually two
suspects. They can be men or women. One plays the role of an incidental
Good Samaritan. Here is how it plays out:
The victim is walking to the supermarket, department store, or through a
business district or coming from a bank. One suspect approaches the
victim with the bait. The bait could be lure of a large amount of cash,
a winning lottery ticket or even gold bullion. The suspect tells the
victim, “I am new to the area, and I have fifty thousand dollars in my
bag. I don’t trust the banks or anyone, but you look honest. I’ll pay
you if you help me. What should I do?” The suspect opens the bag and
shows the victim a large amount of cash. While the victim tries to offer
advice, the second suspect walks up to the victim and the first suspect
and says, “I happened to overhear your conversation. I think I have a
solution to your problem.” The second suspect explains that he and the
victim can put up good faith money to show that they are honest and
wealthy enough not to cheat him. Once the good faith money is shown, the
victim can deposit the fifty thousand dollars in his bank. They all
agree. The victim goes to his bank, withdraws five thousand dollars and
proudly shows his good faith cash. A quick slight-of-hand is done
between the suspects, and the victim is handed the bag of cash. The
suspects excuse themselves and the victim makes a bee-line to his bank.
Usually at this time, the victim begins to feel uneasy and thinks this
was too good to be true. The victim looks into the bag and finds cut up
newspaper. He turns around, and the suspects are gone with his five
thousand dollars. The victim is literally “left holding the bag.”
Bank tellers are trained about this scam. If the teller has a customer
who withdraws a large amount of cash, especially when the customer
rarely deals in cash, the teller will ask what the money is for or if he
has been talking to strangers. Some victims actually respond by saying
they’re going to Lake Tahoe for the weekend.
Some suspects are so smooth, the victim will drive them to the banks and
even to their own home.
The best defense to this scam is to be informed and immediately call the
police when you have been propositioned. These suspects hit an area two
or three times then disappear.