LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A man faces several charges including theft after what Henderson police call a financial institution spoofing scam over two days.
Emmanuel Almonor, 32, was arrested on May 23, following the department’s investigation. Police said they responded to reports involving the scam from May 22 and 23.
According to police, the suspect contacted multiple victims via a spoofed phone number from their respective financial institutions claiming their debit card had been used fraudulently or
compromised and they needed to send them a new debit card.
Police described phone number spoofing as when the caller ID has been deliberately falsified so it appears the incoming call is coming from a person or business you may already know
or trust.
The suspect would then advise the victims a bank employee would respond to their residence to take possession of their current debit card for proper destruction, police said.
Within a very short period, a subject would be at the victim’s front door claiming to be a bank employee. The victim provided the suspect with their debit card for destruction, however, instead the suspect immediately incurred thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges and money transfers, according to police.
During the phone encounters, the suspect appeared to have provided victims with their
personal identifying information, account numbers, and PIN information, making the
contact appear legitimate, police said.
Almonor was taken into custody and booked into the Henderson Detention Center on the following charges.
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1 count Obtain/Use Another Personal ID, Causing Financial Loss $3000+
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1 count Theft, $5000.00 but less than $25000.00
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1 count Obtain Money/Property/Labor Falsely, $5000 but less than $25000
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1 count Attempt to Obtain Money/Property/Labor Falsely, $5000 but less than $25000
Anyone with information on the case, or who may have fallen victim to this scam, is urged to
call the Henderson Police Department at 702-267-4911, 3-1-1, or to remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department’s Summerlin Area Command posted a warning to the northwest valley community to be aware of a similar crime trend in the northwest area.
“Suspects have been pretending to be with your banks. They’ll say there’s suspicious activity on your account and will even text you a verification code to seem more official,” LVMPD’s post read in part.
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