PORT ST. LUCIE − Police on Tuesday gave an 81-year-old man a check for $315,000 recovered as part of an investigation into an alleged scam to which he fell victim.
Port St. Lucie Police Detective Paul Griffith said investigators were fortunate to recover the money. He warned of online transactions, saying if something is too good to be true it likely is.
“You're not going to make a million dollars overnight,” he said. “Just not going to happen.”
The man showed the $315,000 check at the Police Department. He spoke about the experience, but declined to give his name.
Griffith said the man began getting involved in the ruse through a WhatsApp conversation. WhatsApp, from Meta, is a free popular messaging app that allows for a variety of types of communication.
“They said they had this financial investment school he could go to; it was all done online,” Griffith said. “He thought it was legit.”
Griffith described it as an elaborate effort, and included videos to watch. Griffith suspected the videos were stolen from elsewhere. The man reportedly was promised large returns.
“He was actually accessing an account where they were putting fake numbers in there showing him that he was getting these returns,” Griffith said. “It wasn’t real.”
He initially paid $100,000 in late 2023, then another $15,000. An additional transaction came for $200,000 that was supposed to be related to cryptocurrency. Initial investments were to be made in stocks.
The money went to two PNC Bank accounts.
Griffith said at one point the man was asked to pay $1 million in tax to get his money out.
“That's when I think he realized, oops, I think they're taking advantage of me,” Griffith said.
Griffith said the man notified police in February.
The accounts, Griffith said, were set up online, and had addresses in New York. They contained millions of dollars. He said fraudsters typically remove money from accounts quickly.
“What happened in this case is they were able to get shut down before they could get the money out,” Griffith said. “Normally, the money goes in, and it's moved out within 24 hours.”
Griffith urged those who suspect they are fraud victims to contact investigators immediately. The victim in this case, Griffith said, was “lucky.”
“The account got shut down early because PNC noticed that there was some fraud on the account, and the money was still there,” Griffith said.
There have been no arrests, Griffith said.
“I got money back and I got the name of two suspects, but I can't positively identify them,” Griffith said. “That's very frustrating.”
Griffith said people who are scammed may not want to disclose they’ve been victimized.
“They shouldn't be embarrassed,” Griffith said. “These people are trained to get your money, and they're very, very good at what they do.”
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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
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