A Las Vegas woman lost thousands of dollars after willingly handing over her credit card to a scammer who showed up on her doorstep.
The scam started when the woman received a phone call with her bank’s name on the caller ID. The person on the other end told her to check her account, where she noticed two fraudulent transactions.
The scammers feigned alarm and then offered to send an employee to her home.
Ten minutes later, someone showed up with an ‘access code’ and took the woman’s card, cutting it in half but taking care not to damage the card chip.
They then fled, took the cut card and continued making more transactions totaling $9,000.
Now the victim speaks anonymously KVVUsounds the alarm.
A Las Vegas woman lost $9,000 in an elaborate scam in which a ‘courier’ showed up at her home and cut her credit card in half
The anonymous victim received a call from a number with her bank’s caller ID and was told there was suspicious activity on her account minutes before a strange man appeared
The events that happened next were captured on a security camera.
Footage shows the woman giving her card to the scammer, who clumsily takes out a pair of scissors, cuts the card in half and places it in an envelope.
The scammer was careful not to cut the chip in the card, which ultimately gave them access to her bank account.
The victim was on the phone with the original caller the entire time. Just minutes later she realized her online bank account had been frozen.
“I said, ‘I’m in trouble, something’s wrong,’ and I quietly hung up,” she explained.
The woman claims she never volunteered information such as her home address and insists the scammers already had it.
She called her real bank, closed her accounts and changed her passwords.
A representative told her that the scammers already had access to her account from the moment they called, and that handing over the card took the scam one step further.
“It’s shameful to come forward and say that you fell for something like that, that you opened your door and handed over something so valuable to a complete stranger,” the woman said.
She has not yet returned the stolen $9,000.
Shortly after handing over her credit card, the woman realized her account had been frozen
The incident occurred just weeks after 32-year-old Emmanuel Almonor was arrested for carrying out a nearly identical scheme
It was not the first time such an elaborate banking scam had occurred in the area.
On May 28, Las Vegas police announced the arrest of a man who had used a similar racket.
Henderson police said Emmanuel Almonor, 32, was charged with theft, causing financial loss and obtaining money by false means.
Almonor is accused of contacting multiple victims using spoofed phone numbers and saying their bank cards had been compromised.
The 32-year-old would later show up at their home, pose as a bank employee and ask for their bank card to be sent for ‘destruction’.
But Alamor would eventually use the card itself, charge fees and transfer money.
Authorities have declined to provide details on whether two incidents are related, citing an ongoing investigation.