Police Warn of Calls From ‘Bank’ : Con Man Swindles Four Women Out of Savings

A con man posing as a bank official is swindling Orange County residents out of thousands of dollars in savings, Garden Grove police warned Friday.

Sgt. Bruce Beauchamp said people should beware of any phone calls about “irregularities” involving their bank or savings account. He said a sophisticated swindler has bilked at least four women out of their savings in the past year.

The con man struck three times last week, Beauchamp said, and took $15,300 from people in Garden Grove, Fullerton and Anaheim. About a year ago, a man who fit the current con man’s description cheated a 70-year-old Garden Grove woman out of $6,687 she had saved, he added. He said the youngest of the four women swindled this year was 59; the eldest was 80.

Beauchamp said the man’s method of operation is to determine where someone keeps savings and telephone the account holder. The caller says the bank or savings institution has found that one of its employees is taking money and asks for the depositor’s cooperation to help catch him. The account holder is asked to withdraw money, usually in $100 bills, bring it outside the building and turn it over to a “security guard” who is supposed to return it to the bank.

One Woman Victimized Twice

In the most recent Garden Grove swindle, Beauchamp said, the caller managed to persuade the woman to withdraw money twice on Feb. 27--$4,800 each time--and give the money to a plainclothes “security guard” on a nearby street corner. It was only after the man called yet a third time and asked the woman to withdraw the remainder of her money that she became suspicious and called her savings and loan office, Beauchamp said.

“Nobody in the police departments or banks operates likes this,” Beauchamp said. “So I’m asking people to be on guard.”

Beauchamp said police in Orange County are eager to catch the con man and offered advice on how someone who receives such a phone call can help:

“If he should make a call,” Beauchamp suggested, “don’t turn him down flat and don’t call a police department immediately from your phone, because he usually calls the victim back almost immediately, to see if the line is busy, if the person might be calling the police. You might use a neighbor’s phone to call police and alert them,” he said.

The caller, who apparently also poses as the guard who picks up the money, is a 50-year-old man, about 5 feet 10 and 180 pounds, with blond hair and a light-colored mustache, Beauchamp said.

Beauchamp said Garden Grove residents who may have information on the swindler should call the police at 638-6615. People in other cities should call their respective police departments, he added.