Bail Bond Scam Hitting Southern Colorado
Bailbonds man Bobby Brown said he hasn?t seen anything like it before; someone is calling his customers trying to get more money. ?I can?t imagine he can?t be caught,? he said.
Brown called Colorado Springs police Monday afternoon after learning about the scam. He told TARGET 13 one of his customers paid the man, who goes by Tom, $1,400 this weekend, after she feared her husband wouldn?t be able to get out of jail.
?She already went thought all our paperwork and he calls her and asks for more money,? he explained. Brown said the victim was told her husband was facing additional charges and that?s why there is an additional bond.
The man, who?s calling from 209 area code, in Stockton, Calif., told victims to put the bond money on green dot MoneyPak cards and to give the account number to him over the phone.
TARGET 13 reporter Tak Landrock called the man, who identified himself as Tom, to ask about posting a bond for ?his son? who is still in jail. The man said, ?go to Walmart and call me when you get there.?
After waiting more than 30 minutes, Landrock called him again, asking him for further instructions. The man said he needed to go inside and put $600 on a green dot MoneyPak card, and then to call him afterward to learn what we needed to do next.
In the third call, the man instructed Landrock to give him the 16-digit number on the back of the card, so he could collect the money. At that point, Landrock identified himself as a news reporter for KRDO NEWSCHANNEL 13.
The man denied speaking with us previously. ?I don?t know what you?re talking about,? he said.
The man then claimed he was a victim of a scam, someone spoofed his number, he said. Spoofing is the technology allowing callers to input a phone number to show up on caller ID.
The man said we needed to stop harassing him and hung up.
Brown is worried this man will try to scam others. ?I know he?s done it in Fort Collins,? he said.
Brown thinks the man has some ties to the jail, the only way he thinks the man could get information about the person who is trying to post a bond.
The Colorado Springs Police Department told TARGET 13 it was going to look into the investigation.
Brown reminds everyone who is posting a bond, that if there is an additional bond added, that you will need to come to any bond office and fill out more paperwork, a requirement by state law.
